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TAI 


FAIRY 


MAN 


WH 


THE 


GATE* OF J* 


ELLA  STERLING  MIGHELS 


GIFT  OF 
AUTHO- 


Fairy  Tale 

of 

The  Whiie  Man 

Told  From  The  Gates  of  Sunset 

by 

Ella  Sterling  Mighels 


Author  of  "The  Full  Glory  ofDiantha,"   "The  Story  of  the  Files 
of  California,  "  "Little  Mountain  Princess, " 
"Society  and  Babe  Robinson,  "  etc. 

Cover  and  Illustrations  by  W.  Kimball  Briggs. 


PACIFIC  PUBLICATION  COMPANY 

88  First  St..  San  Francisco. 

1915 


•   a  >^ 


k*    =,"o3** 

'V«  -. 


To  the  memory  of 
ADLEY    HOOKE    CUMMINS, 
without  whose  magiiificent  scholarship  gained 
from    a   knowledge   of    sixty   languages    and 
dialects,    and    without    whose    Belief    in    the 
Integrity  of  the  White  Race,  this  book  would 
never  have  been  written. 


All  rights  reserved.     Copyright  1915. 
Ella   Sterling  Mighels. 


757778 


INTRODUCTION 


As  we  stand  gazing  upon  the  glory  of  the  sun  in  his  path  going  down 
into  his  night-palace  in  the  great  Pacific,  a  question  arises. 

The  children  of  my  neighbors  want  to  know  how  far  did  we  have  to 
come  to  get  here,  in  the  first  place?  For  though  we  are  native-born  our 
selves,  yet  each  one  has  a  tale  to  tell  of  parents  who  traveled  far,  and  some 
"farther  than  far"  in  order  to  get  us  this  fair  land  of  California  as  a  birth 
right.  And  before  those  grandparents  also,  was  a  great  journey  traveled, 
always  in  this  direction. 

Although  English  is  our  native  tongue,  yet  other  languages  are  all 
around  us.  Although  we  call  ourselves  Americans,  yet  there  is  a  mingled 
strain  of  Europe  in  our  veins.  Although  we  have  German,  Anglo-Saxon, 
Scotch,  French,  Spanish,  Norse,  Italian,  Russian  and  other  ancestors,  yet 
for  the  sake  of  harmony  we  declare  ourselves  to  be  Irish  and  our  favorite 
color,  green.  This  brings  us  all  so  close  together  that  we  begin  to  want 
to  know  where  did  our  ancestors  of  the  WHITE  Man  first  start  from,  in 
order  to  get  here. 

For  after  all  the  many  journeys  from  the  old  country,  first  crossing 
the  Atlantic  before  crossing  the  plains  for  three  thousand  miles,  or  coming 
by  ship  by  the  way  of  Cape  Horn  or  Panama,  there  is  now  no  farther  to 
go.  We  now  have  reached  the  last  edge  of  the  last  continent.  And  the 
story  must  be  told. 

Who,  then  are  we,  restless  followers  of  the  sun  for  thousands  of  years 
back?  What  made  us  a  WHITE  race  in  the  beginning,  or  if  we  cannot 
solve  that  question  what  is  it  that  has  kept  us  a  WHITE  race?  What  was 
it  away  back  there  somewhere  when  our  people  first  started  out  to  follow 
the  sun's  path  that  made  us  feel  that  "Blood  was  thicker  than  water"?  and 
kept  us  true  to  our  own  kind? 

We  have  read  all  the  old  fairy  stories  to  discover  their  hidden  mean 
ings,  containing  germs  of  truth  preserved  for  thousands  of  years  by  the 
grandmothers.  And  now  we  want  to  add  one  more  to  them,  telling  the 
story  of  the  WHITE  Man,  and  how  he  came  to  follow,  follow,  the  sun's 
course,  for  it  is  a  more  marvelous  fairy  story  than  all  the  others  put  to 
gether. 

And  we  have  all  worked  together  to  this  end,  that  we  may  make 
known  our  discoveries  to  all  the  nations  of  our  race,  and  draw  the  WHITE 
MAN  to  feel  more  kindly  to  his  brother.  And  if  there  be  some  accursed 
villains  of  the  WHITE  race  amongst  us  be  assured  that  beneath  the  white 
skin  there  is  a  heart  that  belongs  to  another  color. 

To  make  clear  to  you  how  it  is  that  "we-all-are-one,"  originally,  one 
of  the  neighbors  children  has  arranged  a  family-tree  from  the  languages 
that  our  ancestors  have  spoken  for  thousands  of  years  back. 

ELLA  STERLING  MIGHELS, 

Assisted  by  the  Neighbors'  Children. 

1605  Baker  Street,  San  Francisco,  California. 
February  28th, 


CHAPTER  HEADINGS 


CHAPTER 

I. 

CHAPTER 

II. 

CHAPTER 

III. 

CHAPTER 

IV. 

CHAPTER 

V 

CHAPTER 

VI. 

CHAPTER 

VII. 

CHAPTER 

VIII. 

CHAPTER 

IX. 

CHAPTER 

X. 

CHAPTER 

XI. 

CHAPTER 

XII. 

CHAPTER 

XIII. 

CHAPTER 

XIV. 

CHAPTER 

XV. 

CHAPTER 

XVI. 

CHAPTER 

XVII. 

CHAPTER 

XVIII 

CHAPTER 

XIX. 

CHAPTER 

XX. 

CHAPTER 

XXI. 

CHAPTER 

XXJT. 

The  Little  Queen  of  the  Bright  Ones. 

The  Wicked  Princess  Jalassa. 

The  Warriors  Speak  Up. 

The  Suyamvara. 

The  Treachery  of  that  Terrible  Day. 

Where  Was  Avenant  ? 

"We  Want  our  Lambkin  and  our  Dove!" 

Farewell  to  the  City  of  Jalassa. 

Bound  for  the  Land  of  Ar-Ya. 

At  the  Well  in  the  Desert. 

The  Noble  Seven. 

The  Meeting  of  the  Bride  and  the  Groom. 

The  Trance-Slumber  of  Una  Materna. 

The  Four-Horned  Ladies. 

Una  Hears  the  Voice  of  the  Poor  Young  Giant. 

The  Four-Horned  Caravan. 

What  Five  Falling  Stars  Brought. 

Una  Materna  Refuses  to  Forgive  Avenant. 

How  the  Four-Horned  Caravan  Came  Back. 

Una  Materna  Plunges  into  the  Dark  Forest. 

Una  Materna  Forgives  Avenant. 

Farewell. 


FORE-WORD 


We,  the  native  high-born  of  the  Land  of  the  Setting  Sun  (whose 
birthright  the  land  is)  send 

GREETING 

to  the  native  high-born  of  the  lands  of  the  Rising  Sun,  as  far  back  as 
"The  WHITE  Man"  may  be  found. 

We  do  this  in  the  name  of  the  little  Queen  of  the  Bright  Ones,  Una 
Materna,  the  ONE  MOTHER  of  us  all,  for  we  are  her  descendants  and 
ought  to  be  united  in  bonds  of  amity  and  peace  for  our  own  self-preser 
vation. 

And  we  send  you  this  greeting  because  we  know !  Here  in  our 
beloved  California,  the  Land  of  Sunset,  is  the  meeting-place  of  all  the 
nations  and  of  all  the  races  of  mankind,  and  if  we  be  not  warned  in 
time  by  the  story  of  Una  Materna  and  her  grand  old  warriors,  then  we 
shall  hear  the  mort-cry  of  the  WHITE  Man. 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE  LITTLE  QUEEN  OF  THE  BRIGHT  ONES. 

Once  a  king  was  out  hunting  with  his  huntsmen  in  the  forest  when 
he  pursued  a  magnificent  stag,  and  became  separated  from  them  all.  As 
the  hour  of  sunset  approached,  the  stag  bounded  away  out  of  sight  as 
if  he  had  vanished  into  air,  and  the  king  found  himself  alone  in  a  strange 
place. 

His  horse  was  tired,  and  as  he  drew  up  to  see  where  he  was  and  to 
find  water  for  himself  and  beast,  he  heard  hoarse  voices  and  sounds  as  of 
a  band  of  robbers  approaching.  At  once  he  dismounted  and  led  his 
horse  behind  some  trees  and  waited  in  silence  until  he  should  discover 
who  or  what  they  might  be, 

Faster  they  came,  and  he  beheld  a  band  of  men  half  running,  all 
ragged  and  torn,  with  long  hair  and  heavy  beards  of  a  bright  bronze 
color,  and  they  were  carrying  a  litter  on  their  shoulders,  while  outrunners 
were  ready  by  their  sides  to  take  their  places  when  they  wearied.  He 
noticed  how  white  was  the  skin  of  these  men  in  contrast  to  those  of  his 
own  people,  for  he  was  of  the  sunbrowned  race  himself.  Then  he  took 
heed  of  the  precious  things  they  were  bearing  so  carefully  on  the  litter. 

There  were  two  figures  there,  an  old  woman  and  a  little  girl.  The 
woman  had  her  head  draped  with  a  strange  sort  of  headdress  falling 
down  in  tabs  on  each  side,  of  her  face,  while  a  black  veil  with  white  stars 
on  it  covered  her  from  head  to  foot  as  if  with  mystery.  In  her  hands 
were  knitting-needles,  and  a  long  web  of  strange  material  lay  in  her  lap 
at  which  she  was  working  still  with  ceaseless  energy. 

At  her  side  stood  the  most  marvelous  child  the  king  had  ever  seen. 
She  was  about  three  vears  old  and  as  white  as  milk.  Her  hair  fell  about 


14  FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN 

her  like  a  cloak  of  spun  gold,  her  eyes  were  deeply  blue  and  her  lips  and 
cheeks  of  the  richest  rose  color.  On  her  head  was  a  little  crown,  but 
her  bearing  was  so  proud  that  one  would  have  known  her  for  the  daughter 
of  a  king  had  she  had  no  crown  upon  her  head. 

Now  the  king's  heart  was  full  of  joy  at  the  sight  of  her.  Never 
had  he  beheld  anything  so  beautiful,  and  he  determined  to  know  more 
about  her.  So  he  tethered  his  horse  there  and  stealthily  followed  the 
band  of  runners.  As  they  neared  a  certain  place,  the  little  girl  stretched 
out  her  hand  and  said,  "Here  for  the  night."  And  at  once  all  came  to 
a  stop  and  the  litter  was  carefully  lowered  to  the  ground. 

Some  ran  for  faggots  and  built  a  fire,  some  cooked,  and  some  made 
ready  a  couch  of  fern. 

When  the  camp  had  come  to  a  state  of  rest,  the  king  made  bold 
to  appear  on  the  scene,  leading  his  horse.  At  once  every  man  stood 
on  guard  around  the  little  girl  and  the  woman,  shaking  a  spear  or  a 
battle-ax  menacingly  at  the  intruder.  The  king  made  the  sign  of 
peace  and  asked  for  a  little  food,  as  he  had  lost  his  way.  At  first  no 
one  could  understand  him,  till  an  old  man  amongst  them  caught  a  word 
or  two  and  explained  to  the  others,  for  their  language  was  not  the  same. 

The  men  on  guard,  those  ragged,  bronze-headed  heroes,  turned  to 
the'  marvelous  child  for  direction,  and  she  nodded  her  head  saying,  "Yes." 
•Che1  king-;  was  then  admitted  to  their  midst  and  given  food  and  a  place 
to  sleep-  for  the  night.  But  he  lay  awake  all  the  hours  of  darkness,  filled 
with  strange  feelings  never  felt  before.  An  early  start  was  being  made 
when  the  king  tried  to  question  the  only  man  who  understood  a  few 
words  of  his  language,  as  to  the  destination  of  the  band  of  the  Bright 
Little  Queen. 

He  pointed  vigorously  to  the  WEST. 

"But  where  do  you  come  from?"  asked  the  king. 

For  reply  he  turned  and  pointed  to  the  golden  rim  of  the  sun  just 
appearing  in  the  East.  He  understood.  They  had  come  from  the  Land 
of  Sunrise,  and  were  now  marching  ever  on  and  on  to  the  Land  of 
Sunset. 

"But  why?"  He  tried  to  get  an  answer  but  all  he  could  make  out  of 
the  eloquent  oration  delivered  to  him  in  that  other  language  of  the 
"Bright  Ones,"  accompanied  by  shakes  of  the  head  and  tragic  gestures 
and  expressions  on  the  faces  of  all  of  them,  was,  that  there  was  a  TER 
RIBLE  SOMETHING  behind  there  in  the  Land  of  Sunrise  that  had 
driven  them  out.  He  then  made  bold  to  ask  about  the  child,  and  they 
succeeded  in  making  clear  to  him  that  she  was  their  little  Queen  and, 
together  with  the  Wise  Women  who  had  their  TRADITIONS  safely  in 
her  keeping,  was  all  they  had  left  to  them  of  their  kingdom  and  their 
ancient  people — all  else  having  been  destroyed  by  the  Terrible  Some 
thing  which  the  king  took  to  mean  a  dragon. 

He  then  told  them  he  was  the  ruler  of  the  country  roundabout,  and 
invited  them  to  take  refuge  with  him  till  they  felt  ready  to  pursue  their 
journey.  This  was  translated  to  the  others,  and  the  poor  wild-looking 
men,  ready  for  another  long  march,  yet  with  very  little  to  eat  on  the  way, 
gathered  around  the  little  Queen  to  await  her  command.  She  nodded. 
But  the  Wise  Woman  said  not  a  word,  only  went  on  knitting  the  faster 
at  her  web. 


FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN  15 

The  king  then  rode  at  the  head  of  them  all  and  kept  blowing  blasts 
on  his  hunting  horn  to  attract  the  attention  of  some  of  his  huntsmen. 
But  he  must  have  wandered  far  when  he  pursued  the  fleet-footed  stag 
for  no  answer  came  quickly  in  response  as  he  had  expected.  (They  say 
now  that  it  was  an  enchanted  stag  that  he  had  followed,  and  it  had  taken 
him  to  the  Land  of  the  Unknown.) 

So  they  traveled  on  together  all  that  day  and  camped  out  for  the 
night  as  before.  All  the  while  the  king's  heart  was  glad  within  him 
with  the  joy  of  being  near  the  "Little  Bright  Queen"  as  he  called  her, 
and  as  all  others  have  called  her  since  then,  so  that  he  forgot  to  be  wor 
ried  over  the  delay  in  reaching  his  kingdom.  However  his  huntsmen 
were  riding  hither  and  thither  for  a  hundred  miles  around,  and  at  last 
one  of  them  named  Yodel,  who  had  a  marvelous  sense  of  hearing,  caught 
the  faint  sound  from  afar  that  the  king  blew  so  measuredly,  and  after 
hours  of  hard  riding  finally  came  forth  from  the  forest  to  meet  him. 

Judge  of  the  surprise  of  Yodel  to  see  his  king  riding  at  the  head  of 
such  a  motley  band  of  ragged  wanderers.  Soon  he  had  others  of  the 
huntsmen  there  and  they  gave  the  king  welcome  and  all  rejoiced  at  his 
safe  return  and,  because  of  their  having  given  succor  to  their  master,  the 
wanderers  also  were  hailed  with  hearty  greetings.  If  they  had  known 
what  was  before  them  may  be  they  would  have  driven  them  away  and  not 
permitted  them  to  come  into  their  midst.  And  then  where  should  we  have 
been?  But  we  shall  see. 

At  sight  of  the  beautiful  little  Queen  as  white  as  milk  and  as  blue- 
eyed  as  the  azure  heavens  above,  and  with  hair  floating  around  her  like 
the  filaments  of  sunlight,  and  the  crimson  upon  cheek  and  lip  like  the 
glories  at  sunset  when  rose-color  bathes  the  earth  and  sky  in  splendor, 
all  were  amazed  and  bewildered,  for  never  had  their  eyes  beheld  anything 
like  the  child.  They  did  not  wonder  that  the  king  welcomed  her  to 
his  lodge  in  the  forest  and  ordered  the  best  of  everything  to  be  set 
before  her.  The  next  day  they  returned  to  the  city  where  the  king  had 
his  palace  not  far  from  the  edge  of  a  great  desert.  And  they  sent  word 
by  Yodel,  who  was  also  a  swift  runner,  to  prepare  the  inhabitants  for 
the  approach  of  the  "Bright  Ones,"  as  they  were  now  termed. 

For  a  dip  in  the  stream  had  restored  each  one  to  himself,  and  the 
shining  white  skin  and  the  bronze-colored  hair  and  heavy  beards  of  the 
men  caught  the  sun-light  and  reflected  it  again,  while  upon  each 
forehead  was  the  gleam  of  a  golden  circlet  to  hold  the  long,  waving 
tresses  in  place  which  made  them  all  look  like  king's  sons  in  spite  of  their 
tatters  and  coverings  made  of  the  skins  of  wild  beasts.  Each  was  now 
calm  and  collected  and  stood  in  the  majesty  of  his  manhood.  They  had 
the  night  before  taken  some  of  the  king's  linen  they  found  in  the  lodge 
to  make  a  new  little  frock  and  mantle  for  the  child,  and  she  stood  there 
on  the  litter  carried  by  them  so  proudly,  gazing  at  all  she  met,  spotless 
within  and  without.  But  the  Wise  Woman  only  knitted  on  ceaselessly 
as  if  fearing  to  lose  a  stitch. 

Thus  came  the  Bright  Ones  to  the  king's  palace,  and  were  glad  to 
rest  on  their  onward  journey  to  the  Land  of  Sunset.  But  the  king  held 
a  council  and  when  it  was  over  they  asked  these  men  to  stay  with  them 
and  help  them  fight  their  enemies,  and  they  would  give  the  little  girl  a 


16  FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN 

palace  and  a  garden  for  herself  and  her  nurse  to  dwell  in,  until  she  was 
old  enough  to  marry. 

When  the  Bright  Ones  consulted  their  little  Queen,  she  nodded,  and 
so  it  came  to  pass  that  the  king  won  many  victories  over  his  enemies, 
and  the  city  near  the  desert  became  of  great  authority  in  the  land,  such 
as  was  never  known  before,  to  which  journeyed  many  travelers  and 
many  caravans,  so  that  kingdom  waxed  rich  and  powerful. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  WICKED  PRINCESS  JALASSA. 

While  the  Bronze-bearded  were  fighting  against  the  enemies  of  the 
king,  the  child  was  growing  up  in  her  palace-garden.  She  was  also 
learning  the  arts  of  women,  spinning  of  flax  and  dyeing  and  weaving, 
and  making  of  pictures,  and  planting  of  seeds,  and  singing  of  songs  she 
had  learned  from  the  birds,  and  taking  of  steps  she  had  copied  from  the 
leaves  in  their  autumn-dances,  and  the  arts  of  purification  by  water,  and 
telling  of  stories  of  the  past  she  had  gotten  from  her  nurse,  the  Wise 
Woman,  and  mixing  of  leaven  to  make  bread,  and  all  those  useful  as 
well  as  beautiful  things  a  maiden  should  know  to  prepare  her  for  the 
days  coming,  when  she  has  to  be  the  queen  of  her  kingdom  and  set  tasks 
for  others,  intelligently. 

Now  the  king  had  an  ugly  sister  whose  temper  was  so  bad  no  Prince 
could  be  found  to  marry  her ;  and  as  is  the  way  with  those  who  are 
disagreeable,  she  hated  everything  sweet  and  beautiful.  She  could  not 
bear  that  everyone  should  be  talking  of  the  marvelous  child  and  calling 
her  'The  One-and-the-Only-One,"  all  the  time  in  their  extravagant  praise, 
until  at  last  she  was  angered  beyond  endurance  by  the  king's  recognizing 
this  name,  and  giving  her  the  title  of  "Una,  the  little  Queen  of  the 
Bright  Ones." 

"And  who  is  she,  after  all,  but  a  beggar-child  my  brother,  the  king, 
found  out  beyond  and  brought  home  from  pity !"  exclaimed  the  ugly 
princess,  Jalassa,  in  her  rage  to  the  ladies  of  the  court. 

"But  how  many  gifts  she  has,"  vainly  remonstrated  the  ladies,  "it 
shows  she  is  dowered  by  the  fairies  and  it  is  better  to  be  friends  with 
her  or  they  will  punish  us !" 

"Gifts?  Rubbish!"  cried  the  spiteful  sister  of  the  king,  "I  am  sure 
there  is  more  cleverness  in  my  little  finger  than  there  is  in  her  whole 
body.  Let  the  slaves  mix  the  leaven  and  wash  the  linen,  and  dye  the 
cloth  and  sing  and  dance  for  my  pleasure!  I  can  sit  idle  all  day  long 
and  do  nothing  whatever,  which  is  what  a  real  princess  should  be  cele 
brated  for." 

"But  what  glorious  hair  like  a  golden  cloak  around  her,  and  such 
milk-white  skin,  and  eyes  as  darkly  blue  as  the  skies,"  they  would  mur 
mur.  For  they  were  afraid  that  the  fairies  were  listening,  and  they 
wanted  to  be  on  the  safe  side. 

"She  is  a  freak!"  Jalassa  would  scream,  "just  like  an  albino,  and  no 
one  knows  what  tribe  she  came  from—"  here  she  lowered  her  voice  to 
a  sepulchral  whisper —  "maybe  she  belongs  to  the  Ghouls — they  are  said 
to  be  pale  enough — hiding  in  dark  caves  all  day  and  only  coming  out  at 
night  with  the  jackals  and  hyenas." 

The  ladies  shivered  at  the  very  thought.  Now  it  was  not  long  until 
they  told  this  to  the  pages,  and  what  more  natural  than  they  should  tell 
the  soldiers,  and  that  the  soldiers  should  tell  their  wives,  until  at  last 
everyone  was  repeating  these  abominable  hints  of  the  princess  until  there 


18  FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN 

was  a  buzzing  and  a  murmuring  like  a  lot  of  bees  filling  the  air.  It  was 
not  long  until  one  of  the  Bright  Ones  caught  a  word  or  two,  they  having 
learned  the  language  by  now,  and  in  a  great  rage  one  of  Una's  men 
hurled  to  the  earth  the  soldier  who  was  thus  making  merry  at  the  ex 
pense  of  their  little  Queen. 

This  brought  the  matter  to  the  king  and  the  council,  for  the  warriors 
entered  the  palace  in  their  old  paraphernalia  of  skins  and  announced 
that  they  would  take  their  little  Queen  and  her  nurse,  and  go  on  their 
journey,  the  following  day.  But  the  king  could  not  spare  them,  nor  did 
he  mean  to  lose  his  hold  on  the  marvelous  child,  for  he  intended  to  marry 
her  himself  when  she  was  of  a  suitable  age.  So  he  bade  them  be  of 
tranquil  mind  and  he  would  do  justice  to  all.  Then  he  invited  them  to 
tell  their  real  story  to  the  historian  of  the  court  who  would  write  it  all 
down  in  letters  of  gold  for  future  ages  to  ponder  over  and  preserve,  that 
the  lineage  of  Una  the  Fair  One  with  Golden  Locks  should  be  known 
forever. 

So  the  oldest  amongst  the  warriors  agreed  to  this,  and  after  consult 
ing  with  the  Wise  Woman  who  had  preserved  the  names  and  traditions 
of  Una's  ancestors  in  her  mysterious  web,  the  family-tree  was  carefully 
copied  down  and  written  large,  for  all  to  see,  and  hung  upon  the  walls 
of  the  city.  And  it  was  a  wonderful  story  that  made  all  feel  humble 
in  her  presence  and  in  that  of  the  warriors  with  their  bronze  beards  and 
blue  eyes,  for  it  seemed  they  were  a  more  ancient  and  advanced  race  by 
thousands  of  years  than  were  these  of  the  sunbrowned  peoples  of  earth. 

Jalassa  was  compelled  to  stand  in  the  presence  of  all  and  receive 
her  sentence  of  banishment  from  the  court  as  punishment  for  the  insults 
she  had  indulged  in  to  satisfy  her  spite  against  these  wonderful  strangers. 
In  her  rage  and  mortification  she  looked  her  ugliest,  for  in  spite  of  her 
silks  and  gauzes  she  could  not  conceal  her  dish-face  and  flat  features 
and  greasy  skin.  If  she  had  been  kind  it  would  have  redeemed  her  looks 
more  than  satins  or  jewels  but  she  hated  everybody,  even  herself.  She 
had  a  black  parrot  that  she  took  with  her  to  the  sequestered  tower  where 
she  was  compelled  to  go  and  live  for  the  rest  of  her  life.  And  she  sent 
her  parrot  out  to  gather  the  news  from  time  to  time  without  anyone 
knowing  anything  about  it,  for  it  was  an  enchanted  bird  which  had  been 
given  to  her  by  an  aunt  who  lived  in  Africa. 

In  the  palace-garden,  Una  the  Fair  One  continued  to  live  in  peace. 
She  played  with  the  animals  that  lived  there  for  they  were  all  tame  in 
her  presence.  The  squirrel  in  the  tree  called  to  her  to  "Come  up!  come 
up — come  up  and  see  the  world."  Wrhen  she  asked  the  turtle-dove 
whom  it  loved  the  best,  it  puffed  out  its  purple  sheen  and  cooed,  "My 
queen !  my  queen !  my  queen."  When  she  demanded  of  the  frog  how 
he  felt,  "Ugly!  ugly!  ugly!"  hoarse  he  cried.  When  she  called  all  the 
birds  to  her,  they  came  from  far  and  wide  and  the  meadow-lark  sat  on 
her  shoulder  and  sang  quaintly, 

"Sweet!     Well?     What  d'ye  think  o'  me?" 

And  she  was  happy  until  one  day  something  happened  which  seemed 
to  bring  her  a  touch  of  sorrow  for  the  future.  She  saw  on  a  bough 
close  to  her  a  new  bird  which  seemed  trying  to  tell  her  something. 
Straightway  she  began  talking  to  it  in  the  bird-language  and  asked : 


FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN  19 

"What  Fate  is  waiting  me, 
O  tiny  bird  with  nodding  head? 
Shall  my  true  love  and  I  be  wed?" 
And  the  bird  nodded  "yes." 

She  clasped  her  hands  together  and  cried, 
"Oh,  what  is  Fate's  decree? 

Shall  we  be  happy,  happy,  we?" 
But  the  bird  sang  slowly  in  a  plaintive  voice,  as  it  sat  in  the  tree  above : 

"Farewell,  my  love !    Farewell,  my  love !" 
Then  it  flew  away. 

For  the  first  time  Una  knew  what  a  touch  of  sorrow  was.  She  had 
dreamed  as  a  child  might  of  her  prince,  her  king  who  one  day  would 
come  into  her  life,  that  she  might  be  lonesome  no  more.  She  saw  that 
the  birds  had  mates  and  built  their  nests  together.  Why  should  not  she 
some  day  build  up  a  kingdom  of  her  own,  far  away  from  these  sun- 
browned  people  to  whom  she  did  not  belong?  Why  not  one  day  a  white 
prince  come  to  claim  her  of  the  same  race  as  herself  and  her  warriors? 
That  had  been  her  dream.  Why  should  she  have  to  say  "farewell?" 

"May  be  the  bird  is  mistaken,"  she  murmured  to  herself. 

Not  long  after  this  she  beheld  the  little  thing  again,  perched  on  the 
same  bough  above  her  head,  and  it  fluttered  its  feathers  and  perked  its 
head  most  mysteriously.  "Have  you  a  message  for  me,"  asked  Una,  "a 
message  from  my  true  love !" 

It  nodded  that  it  had,  and  presently  in  the  bird-language  told  her 
that  there  was  just  such  a  prince  as  she  had  dreamed  of  on  the  other 
side  of  the  great  desert,  who  had  heard  of  her  and  her  fairness  the 
same  as  his  own  people,  showing  that  they  belonged  to  the  same  race, 
and  already  he  loved  her  and  wished  her  to  wait  for  him,  for  he  was  a 
poor  prince  as  yet  and  had  no  kingdom  of  his  own  to  lay  at  her  feet ; 
but  that  his  brothers  would  be  soon  going  forth  to  conquer  the  world 
and  he  would  have  to  remain  with  his  father  and  serve  him,  and  then  the 
kingdom  would  descend  to  him.  So  the  bird  had  brought  the  message 
and  bade  her  always  wait  for  him  as  he  should  do  for  her. 

Now  Una  could  not  understand  all  this  at  first.  It  took  days  and 
days  for  her  to  get  it  all  into  her  head.  But  she  perceived  one  thing  at 
once,  and  that  was  this :  her  prince  was  poor.  So  she  applied  herself 
more  than  ever  to  those  arts  for  which  already  she  was  famed  that  she 
might  take  with  her  industries  of  great  value  to  the  new  kingdom  whither 
she  was  to  go. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  WARRIORS  SPEAK  UP. 

Taller  and  more  beautiful  Una  grew  in  her  girlhood,  till  the  king 
decided  she  was  of  a  marriageable  age,  and  told  her  warriors  that  the 
hour  had  now  arrived  for  the  celebration  of  the  ceremony;  that  he  had 
provided  the  richest  of  silks  and  satins  and  silver  and  gold  tissues  and 
had  a  necklace  of  pearls  to  bestow  upon  her,  together  with  caskets  of 
emeralds  and  rubies  and  diamonds  as  fitting  to  the  beauty  and  grace  of 
so  distinguished  a  bride. 

Her  warriors,  who  always  were  blunt  and  to  the  point,  announced 
to  the  king  that  according  to  the  laws  and  customs  of  their  tribe,  when 
that  hour  arrived,  all  the  princes  and  kings  of  the  surrounding  country 
were  bidden  to  the  festivities  and  the  princess,  or  young  queen  as  it  was 
in  this  case,  chose  the  one  she  liked  best. 

The  king  scowled. 

"But  there  is  one  king  who  loves  her  now  more  than  any  other 
could — "  he  began,  when  he  was  interrupted. 

"Who  is  the  man  ?"  asked  Moondy,  the  chief  warrior,  for  they  were 
a  stupid  lot  when  it  came  to  affairs  of  the  heart. 

The  king  struck  his  own  breast.     "Here  he  stands,"  he  exclaimed. 

"What?"  came  from  the  band  as  in  one  voice.  "You?  You  are 
already  blessed  with  wives." 

"I  have  never  yet  appointed  one  as  my  queen,"  observed  the  king ; 
"that  honor  shall  belong  to  Una." 

But  an  angry  murmur  arose  from  those  Bright  Ones.  "It  is  not  the 
way  of  our  tribe,"  they  announced  blankly. 

Now  the  king  was  afraid  to  anger  these  men  of  might,  and  so  he 
pretended  to  agree  to  their  plan  and  summon  all  the  princes  and  kings 
of  the  nations  roundabout,  near  or  far,  to  the  Suyamvara  of  the  Fair  One 
of  the  Golden  Locks,  determined  to  win  her  himself  by  some  treachery 
at  the  last  moment.  He  had  Yodel  and  all  his  huntsmen  trained  for  the 
part  they  were  to  play,  and  if  she,  the  young  Queen,  chose  another  than 
himself  they  were  to  be  ready  to  carry  her  off  just  before  the  wedding- 
ceremonies  to  the  lodge  in  the  forest,  where  he  would  meet  them  and  be 
safely  married  to  her  before  her  warriors  could  arrive.  Once  that  was 
done  he  felt  they  would  have  no  more  to  say,  but  if  they  did,  he  would 
have  them  driven  out  of  the  kingdom.  He  was  tired  of  them  any  way, 
now  that  he  did  not  need  them  any  more  to  help  quell  his  enemies.  Be 
sides  he  wanted  Una  all  to  himself — one  father-in-law  was  bad  enough 
when  one  married,  but  what  could  one  do  with  a  whole  regiment  of  them 
interfering  all  the  while — and  that  was  just  about  what  those  blundering 
old  warriors  would  be  doing.  No,  he  would  be  glad  to  get  rid  of  them 
at  any  cost,  even  if  they  had  to  be  put  to  death  treacherously.  Thus 
do  we  see  that  a  king's  heart  may  be  desperately  "wicked  and  deceitful 
above  all  things,"  even  while  he  is  talking  about  LOVE. 

Now  Jalassa,  sitting  at  her  tower-window,  was  awaiting  the  return 
of  her  black  parrot  which  she  sent  forth  each  morning  to  bring  her  the 
latest  news,  hoping  always  to  find  some  way  to  revenge  herself  upon  the 


I' AIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN  21 

Fair  One  with  Golden  Locks,  for  her  having  been  banished  from  the 
court.  And  eagerly  she  greeted  the  crook-billed  bird  which  returned  to 
her  with  the  tidings  of  the  approaching  Suyamvara.  Also  it  brought  her 
the  king's  secret  and  how  the  huntsmen  were  to  carry  off  the  bride  to 
the  hunter's  lodge  in  the  forest  before  the  ceremony  if  she  chose  another, 
to  make  her  the  queen  of  the  land. 

Jalassa  turned  first  a  pale  yellow,  then  a  pale  green.  With  Una  as 
queen  she  could  never  again  appear  at  court.  So  she  plotted  how  she 
could  outwit  the  king,  her  brother.  She  had  a  wicked  old  aunt  in  the 
lower  kingdom  who  was  queen  of  the  Blacks,  and  she  sent  her  black 
parrot  to  her  with  a  message.  This  was  for  her  to  dispatch  a  caravan  of 
blacks  to  carry  away  the  bride  before  the  huntsmen  did,  while  she  herself 
would  impersonate  the  bride  and  let  the  huntsmen  carry  her  off  instead. 
It  was  a  beautiful  plan  of  revenge,  worthy  of  Jalassa's  black  heart,  but 
what  could  you  expect?  She  and  her  brother,  the  king,  did  not  belong 
to  the  same  blood,  for  their  father,  the  previous  king,  had  had  many 
wives  of  many  lands  and  they  two  did  not  have  the  same  mother,  and  so 
were  a  mixed  breed.  They  had  no  peace  in  their  own  hearts,  fighting 
even  among  themselves. 

The  old  queen  of  the  Blacks  was  delighted  to  do  as  she  was  bid,  for 
she  wanted  a  fair  daughter  of  men  to  wed  with  her  son  and  lift  him  up 
a  thousand  years,  by  means  of  her  white  brain  and  white  manners,  and 
give  the  kingdom  a  new  prince  to  rule  in  the  next  generation  with  a 
brain  like  herself.  So  she  straightway  called  her  son  to  her  to  adorn 
himself  like  the  sun  in  all  its  glory,  and  go  forth  with  his  caravan  of 
Blacks  to  fetch  home  the  Fair  One  with  Golden  Locks  to  be  his  queen. 

Meanwhile  the  news  flew  to  all  the  princes  and  kings  of  the  outside 
tribes  and  races  of  men.  The  queen  of  the  Yellows  had  longed  for  such 
a  daughter  of  men  as  was  this  far-famed  beauty,  to  wed  with  her  son  with 
his  slant  eyes,  and  so  she  sent  him  forth  to  win  her,  leading  his  caravan 
over  a  vast  distance  to  be  present  at  the  Suyamvara. 

Even  the  queen  of  the  Reds  heard  the  news  some  way,  but  the  great 
waters  separated  their  tribe  from  the  land  where  the  fair  bride  was  to 
be  found,  so  she  could  not  send  her  son  in  all  his  war-paint  and  feathers 
— much  as  she  desired  it. 

But  the  queen  of  the  Browns  was  not  so  far  away  as  this,  and  so 
she  fitted  up  a  fleet  of  catamarans  and  sent  it  forth  to  reach  the  shore 
where  was  the  city  by  the  desert,  to  enter  the  contest  for  the  gaining  of 
the  hand  of  this  marvelous  one  of  so  noble  a  race  as  the  white  tribe 
belonged  to.  However  there  came  up  a  great  storm  and  they  were  not 
able  to  get  to  those  shores,  and  such  few  as  lived  to  return  home  to 
those  islands  of  the  South,  never  ceased  to  tell  of  the  amazing  beauty 
and  grace  of  the  WHITE  princess  they  had  never  had  the  pleasure  of 
beholding.  And  fairy  tales  more  wonderful  than  dreams  grew  out  of 
this  imagined  experience  all  over  the  earth  which  accounts  for  the  mixed 
versions  now  in  the  books  in  many  lands. 

Yet  the  truth  is  good  enough  as  we  shall  see  in  this  true  version  of 
the  story,  and  the  truth  is  sometimes  too  terrible  to  be  borne  for  it  nearly 
breaks  our  hearts.  That  is  why  the  grandmothers  turn  it  into  fairy 
tales  for  the  children,  and  thus  the  truth  is  covered  up  carefully  from 
sight,  yet  is  there  all  the  time  behind  the  enchantment. 


22  FAIRY  TALE  OP  THE  WHITE  MAN 

Well,  what  was  Una  doing  all  this  time  ? 

Her  nurse,  the  Wise  Woman,  still  sat  with  her  knitting,  but  an 
swered  Una's  questions  from  time  to  time,  in  briefest  sentences. 

"Do  I  have  to  wear  the  satins  and  silks  and  pearls  for  my  wedding 
costume,  dear  Nurse?"  she  exclaimed,  "I  should  prefer  my  own  weaves." 

"It  is  customary,"  said  Resonia,  knitting  away.  So  with  a  sigh, 
thinking  of  her  poor  prince,  who  would  be  coming  to  claim  her,  Una 
submitted. 

For  he  was  coming,  she  knew.  The  little  bird  on  the  bough  of  the 
orange-tree  had  brought  her  another  message.  He  had  heard  of  the 
approaching  Suyamvara  and  would  be  there.  She  put  on  her  bridal  finery 
and  the  ladies  of  the  court  were  busy  putting  in  a  pin  here,  and  a  pin 
there,  in  order  to  show  how  important  they  were. 

But  in  Una's  heart  was  a  great  glory,  so  she  did  not  mind  them  in 
the  least,  for  the  bird  had  told  her  the  name  of  her  prince  and  she  was 
saying  it  over  and  over  as  if  it  were  the  noblest  and  sweetest  music  to  be 
heard  on  earth. 

"Prince  Ar-Ya  of  the  Land  of  the  Ar-Yans — Prince  Ar-Ya  who  will 
soon  be  my  Ar-Ya  and  together  we  shall  build  our  nest." 

She  did  not  hear  what  the  court-ladies  were  saying,  she  was  so 
absorbed  in  this  beautiful  name  which  henceforth  was  to  be  her  own. 
But  she  did  hear  something !  It  was  the  song  of  the  little  brown  bird  on 
the  bough  of  the  orange-tree,  and  escaping  from  them  all,  she  ran  to 
get  the  message.  Her  heart  nearly  broke  right  there!  Prince  Ar-Ya's 
father  was  dying  and  he  could  not  leave  him,  but  he  had  already  sent 
his  caravan  across  the  desert  in  charge  of  a  faithful  subject  named 
Avenant  who  would  serve  for  him  to  the  death,  and  fetch  Una  to  his 
kingdom  where  he  was  waiting  impatiently  for  her  coming. 

"Quick!  quick!"  exclaimed  Una,  "how  shall  I  know  this  Avenant 
before  he  is  announced  ?  How  shall  I  know  that  he  is  true  to  my  prince  ?" 

So  the  bird  told  her  he  would  wear  white  wings  upon  his  helmet, 
and  that  she  was  free  to  put  him  to  any  test  she  desired.  The  disappoint 
ment  was  almost  more  than  she  could  bear  but  she  knew  she  must  meet 
whatever  came  bravely,  and  so  steadied  herself  as  she  heard  the  sound  of 
trumpets  summoning  all  to  the  great  festival. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   SUYAMVARA. 

The  hour  had  arrived  for  the  first  day's  ceremonies.  Arrayed  all  in 
splendor,  the  court  and  the  people  assembled  in  the  outdoor  circle  which 
was  like  a  vast  circus  with  seats  all  around  enclosing  the  center.  At  one 
side  was  the  dais  of  the  king  with  canopies  of  gold  and  crimson  and  blue 
overhead  and  a  million  silken  flags  fluttering  in  the  warm  sunshine. 
Near  to  him  was  the  dais  of  Una,  the  Queen  of  the  Bright  Ones,  and 
it  was  all  blue  and  silver  and  covered  with  stars,  with  white  silk  flags 
trembling  around  the  edges  of  the  canopies. 

Clad  in  her  robes  of  silver  and  white,  and  attended  by  the  ladies  of 
the  court,  and  guarded  by  her  warriors  who  were  now  in  the  prime  of 
life,  rugged  and  stern  as  so  many  fathers  ever  watching  over  her,  and 
closely  followed  by  her  nurse  veiled  as  usual,  appeared  the  young  queen. 
Everyone  knew  her  at  once  by  the  wonderful  golden  locks  sweeping 
around  her  like  a  shower  of  sunshine.  As  she  took  her  place  a  cheer 
of  delight  arose  from  all  present  for  the  very  sight  of  her  filled  one  with 
joy. 

Then  came  a  splendid  array  from  the  Eastern  Land,  the  Land  of 
Day,  around  the  great  circle.  Here  in  the  midst  of  his  Mandareens,  the 
most  fantastic  of  courtiers,  bowing  and  scraping  at  every  step  to  the 
most  peculiar  of  music,  came  the  Prince  of  the  Yellow  Kingdom.  He 
was  borne  in  his  palanquin  to  the  front  of  the  dais  and  there  he  stepped 
forth  in  all  his  glory  of  green  and  purple  and  blue  and  yellow  silken 
garments,  and  stood  haughty  and  proud  as  if  it  were  a  great  condescension 
for  him  to  appear  thus  instead  of  buying  his  wife  at  his  own  august  will. 
But  he  merely  endured  to  do  this  because  of  the  customs  of  the  WHITE 
Race  in  order  to  add  this  gorgeous  princess  to  his  harem  of  wives  where 
she  would  soon  learn  her  place  in  submission  to  his  mother  who  ruled  the 
women  of  that  land  with  a  rod  of  iron. 

The  chamberlain  stepped  out  and  laid  before  the  White  queen  a 
salver  of  jade  bracelets,  and  boxes  in  nests  from  enormous  to  tiny,  inlaid 
with  silver,  and  then  slaves  staggered  forward  bending  under  the  weight 
of  a  bale  of  silks  and  crepes  richly  embroidered.  Then  the  chamberlain 
made  a  long  and  flowery  speech,  finally  demanding  the  hand  of  the 
beautiful  maiden  in  marriage  for  his  august  master. 

Then  came  Moondy  to  the  front.  He  was  the  chief  of  the  warriors. 
He  asked  in  a  tremendous  voice,  "Does  your  master  vow  solemnly  never 
to  love  another  than  our  queen  should  she  condescend  to  accept  his  offer  ?" 

This  question  threw  the  dignitaries  and  the  Mandareens  and  the 
chamberlain  and  even  the  Yellow  Prince  himself  into  confusion.  They 
could  not  seem  to  give  the  proper  reply. 

"Enough !"  roared  the  old  warrior,  "Pass  on,  O  Prince !"  And  so  on, 
they  had  to  go.  The  king  of  the  land  no  longer  scowled.  He  felt  much 
better.  He  was  ready  to  answer  that  question  without  a  moment's 
hesitation.  With  Una  for  his  bride  he  would  never  care  for  any  other — 
and  so  he  instructed  his  council  to  reply  "Yos,"  at  once  when  it  came 
their  turn. 


24  FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN 

Now  came  the  caravan  of  the  Lower  Kingdom,  headed  by  the  Prince 
of  the  Blacks.  He  was  the  tallest  of  them,  and  he  wore  a  splendid  bunch 
of  white  ostrich  plumes  upon  his  head  which  added  to  his  magnificence. 
His  robe  was  of  red  satin  trimmed  with  gold  braid  on  the  edges.  Small 
black  boys  beat  upon  tom-toms  and  played  upon  shrill  musettes,  and 
struck  cymbals  together  making  a  wonderful  accompaniment  as  they  sang 
weird  strains  of  praise  of  their  own  land  and  how  happy  the  bride  would 
be  once  she  was  there,  the  bride  of  their  master. 

Then  the  slaves  advanced  and  laid  before  the  White  queen  ornaments 
of  carved  ivory,  and  idols  of  various  sorts  and  wonderful  weaves  of 
cotton  skillfully  dyed.  And  the  Prime  Minister,  who  understood  such 
matters,  came  forth  and  in  a  loud  proclamation  told  of  the  honors  to  be 
showered  upon  the  lady  fair  in  his  land  if  she  would  wed  with  his  master. 

Once  more  old  Moondy  came  forward  and  there  was  a  frown  upon 
his  brow  as  he  put  his  question,  and  once  more  the  same  confusion 
prevailed. 

"Enough!"  thundered  the  doughty  warrior,  "Pass  on!  O  Prince!" 

The  king  of  the  land  began  to  smile.  Perhaps  he  would  not  have 
to  carry  off  the  bride  after  all. 

Hidden  in  a  safe  place  and  heavily  veiled  from  head  to  foot,  sat  the 
'Princess  Jalassa,  listening  to  all  this  and  smiling  also,  but  with  bitterness 
and  envy,  and  full  of  the  revenge  which  was  to  be  so  sweet  to  her. 

"Soon  you  shall  be  pulled  down  from  your  proud  place,  you  Fair  One 
of  the  Golden  Locks,  and  be  trod  under  foot,"  she  was  murmuring-  to 
herself  under  her  breath  each  time  the  warriors  said,  "Pass  on !" 

Then  came  a  most  gracious  group  of  figures,  the  gentlemen  of  the 
court  of  the  king  of  the  land,  and  they  were  wearing  silken  turbans  and 
costumes  of  white  and  gold,  and  they  were  advancing  to  delightful  music 
of  sitar  and  lute  and  pipe,  and  bearing  a  crown  upon  a  velvet  cushion 
which  they  laid  down  upon  the  dais  before  the  Queen  of  the  Bright  Ones. 

And  now  the  king  of  the  land  was  bending  forward  eagerly  to  hear 
the  decision,  for  the  Vizier  had  announced  his  name  and  that  he  desired 
to  give  her  his  kingdom  if  she,  the  Fair  Una,  the  One  and  the  Only  One, 
would  become  his  bride. 

Old  Moondy  never  relaxed  his  stern  browrs.  He  asked  the  same 
question  as  twice  before,  and  this  time  there  was  no  confusion. 

"Our  master,  the  Sovereign  of  this  land,  solemnly  vows  never  to 
love  another  than  Una,  the  Fair  One  with  Golden  Locks,  the  Queen  of 
the  Bright  Ones,  if  she  will  condescend  to  wed  him,"  was  the  response. 
The  king  was  taking  a  fresh  breath.  But  lo!  and  behold  ye!  here  came 
a  new  question. 

"Does  your  master,  the  Sovereign  of  this  land,  solemnly  vow  that  he 
has  never  loved  another  than  our  young  queen  of  the  ancient  tribe  to 
which  we  belong?" 

They  consulted  together  and  then  being  determined  to  outwit  these 
old  fogies  of  warriors  who  stood  in  the  way  of  the  king's  cherished  plans, 
the  Prime  Minister  replied,  "Our  master,  the  king  of  this  land,  solemnly 
declares  that  he  has  never  loved  another  than  your  young  queen  of  the 
ancient  tribe  to  which  you  belong." 

The  old  warrior  knit  his  brows  and  spoke  scornfully,  "Yet  hath  thy 
lord  and  master,  the  king  of  this  land,  wives,  and  children  by  them!  Such 


FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN  25 

an  insult  as  this  to  his  wives  and  children  is  worthy  only  of  an  un 
thinkable  wretch!  Such  words  would  he  be  speaking  later  of  our  young 
queen!  For  false  in  one,  false  in  all.  Enough,  pass  on,  O  king!" 

The  king's  cheek  burned  in  rage.  The  huntsmen  were  bidden  to  be 
ready  for  the  moment  when  the  ceremony  should  be  announced.  For  in 
the  distance  was  seen  coming  another  caravan  led  by  white  oxen  whose 
horns  were  adorned  with  garlands.  And  at  the  front  strode  a  bearded 
young  man  with  a  helmet  on  his  head,  from  which  sprang  two  white 
swan  wings.  He  wore  a  mantle  of  white  wool  which  fell  away  from 
him  most  gracefully  as  he  advanced,  showing  a  well-knit  figure  clad  in 
gray  homespun. 

Slowly  on  they  came,  but  the  Queen  of  the  Bright  Ones  was  leaning 
forward  expectantly.  Was  this  indeed  Avenant  who  was  to  take  her  to 
her  beloved  Ar-Ya  in  the  land  of  the  Ar-Yans? 

Nearer  he  came,  a  group  of  young  men  and  youths  and  boys  with 
him,  and  drivers  of  the  oxen,  all  slowly  and  gracefully.  Una  kept  her 
eyes  on  him  steadfastly.  She  saw  that  his  eyes  were  blue  and  his  skin 
was  white,  and  the  look  on  his  face  was  benign  and  winning.  His  hair 
and  beard  were  of  a  dark  brown  but  presently  she  observed  as  he  came 
nearer,  that  his  lashes  and  eyebrows  were  black,  giving  him  an  intense 
expression. 

Like  the  sound  of  a  bell  came  his  deep-toned  voice  as  he  stood 
and  explained  that  his  master,  Prince  Ar-Ya  of  the  land  of  the  Ar-Yans, 
had  to  remain  with  his  dying  father,  and  so  he  had  been  sent  to 
represent  him  at  the  Suyamvara  and  ask  for  the  hand  of  the  Queen 
of  the  Bright  Ones  in  marriage. 

The  young  boys  he  had  brought  with  him  came  forward  and  laid 
their  gifts  at  the  feet  of  Una,  and  she  looked  and  saw  that  they  were  a 
lambkin  and  a  dove.  And  then  they  led  up  a  pair  of  beautiful  white  steers 
yoked  to  a  chariot  and  presented  them  to  her  for  her  journey  across  the 
desert. 

She  would  willingly  have  seated  herself  within  and  have  gone  with 
them  without  another  word,  but  the  old  warrior,  Moondy,  placed  himself 
before  her  to  ask  his  same  questions  as  before. 

Proudly  the  bearded  young  white  man  stood  and  spoke.  "My  name 
is  Avenant,"  he  said,  and  then  he  continued  by  taking  off  his  helmet  an  1 
holding  it  in  his  left  hand  while  he  lifted  his  right  to  the  skies  reverently 
"Solemnly  I  vow  for  my  master,  Prince  Ar-Ya  of  the  Land  of  the  Ar- 
Yans,  that  he  will  never  love  another  than  Una,  the  Queen  of  the  Brigh! 
Ones,  whether  she  becomes  his  bride  or  whether  she  does  not,  and  on 
that  vow  I  stake  my  life." 

So  nobly  did  Avenant  stand  there,  and  so  benignly,  that  all  were 
rilled  with  admiration  for  him ;  even  the  Princess  Jalassa  had  for  the 
moment  forgot  her  revenge  at  hearing  these  words  of  his.  And  Una, 
the  young  queen,  stood  there  in  expectation,  ready  to  accept  and  go 
upon  that  journey  to  that  master  who  had  such  a  faithful  subject  to 
represent  him. 

But  Moondy  still  remained  on  guard  with  his  second  query  as  before 
to  the  other  suitors.  Avenant  answered  it  thus,  "I  solemnly  vow  for  my 
master,  Prince  Ar-Ya  of  the  land  of  the  Ar-Yans,  that  he  has  never  loved 


26  FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN 

another  than  Una,  the  Fair  One  with  the  Golden  Locks,  and  on  that  vow 
I  stake  my  life,  and  my  honor  and  all  that  I  am  or  hope  to  be." 

Then  it  was  at  last  that  Una's  brain  seemed  to  comprehend  all  that 
the  bird  had  told  her.  She  sat  down  in  her  chair  of  state,  and  the  old 
warrior  turned  to  her  not  knowing  exactly  what  to  do  next.  "How  shall 
I  know  that  he  is  true  to  my  prince?"  came  back  to  her  mind.  "I  must 
prove  him." 

"Will  you  prove  yourself  and  your  master  against  these  who  are  as 
sembled  here  that  we  may  know  he  is  superior  to  all  of  them?"  asked 
Moondy,  rather  unwillingly,  it  must  be  confessed,  for  he  was  more  than 
pleased  with  the  young  man.  However,  it  was  the  wish  of  Una,  so  he 
went  ahead  with  it,  but  he  was  grumbling  under  his  breath.  "It's  just 
like  a  willful  girl,"  he  was  saying  to  himself.  "She  would  have  gone  off 
with  him  without  asking  any  questions  and  now  that  he  has  answered 
them,  she  wants  to  make  more  trouble!" 

"I  will,"  spoke  Avenant.  "What  do  you  desire?  By  joust,  by 
running  in  leaps,  by  throwing  the  disc  or  by  wrestling?" 

Now  Una  had  no  wish  to  see  that  brave  and  splendid  young  man  of 
the  Whites  disfigured  by  the  cruel  hands  of  the  champion  of  the  Prince 
of  the  Blacks  or  the  Prince  of  the  Yellows  or  the  champion  of  the  king 
of  that  land.  Her  instinct  taught  her  that  they  would  welcome  the  op 
portunity  to  injure  him  by  foul  blows  or  tricks  of  any  kind.  So  she  chose 
first  the  throwing  of  the  disc. 

It  was  a  pretty  sight  to  see  Avenant  swinging  off  his  mantle,  and  his 
helmet  to  the  care  of  the  young  boys  with  him,  all  of  whom  were  fair- 
skinned  like  himself. 

Meanwhile  the  champion  of  the  Blacks  had  won  first  place,  and  he 
threw  a  good  distance.  Then  came  the  next  and  the  next,  each  doing 
well,  but  it  was  Avenant  who  threw  furthest  of  them  all.  Then  they 
prepared  for  the  running  and  it  was  the  same.  Avenant  won.  By  this 
time  the  king  was  swarthy  with  rage ;  he  called  hoarsely  that  they  must 
proye  also  in  wrestling  for  he  had  a  slave  that  was  reared  for  that  pur 
pose  alone.  Una  arose  and  tried  to  prevent  it,  but  the  word  had  been 
spoken.  "What  did  you  start  it  for?"  grumbled  old  Moondy. 

"For  Prince  Ar-Ya!"  said  Avenant  as  he  advanced  and  met  the 
antagonists  without  a  sign  of  hesitancy ;  on  the  contrary  he  rushed  at  the 
first  one  and  took  him  quite  by  surprise.  The  Black  was  powerfully  built 
but  Avenant  had  more  cunning,  so  he  tripped  him  and  put  him  on  the 
ground.  The  Yellow  had  more  cunning  but  Avenant  had  more  power, 
so  threw  him  over  his  head  and  laid  him  flat.  In  the  wrestler  of  the  king 
of  the  land  Avenant  met  his  match.  They  clinched.  Together  they  went 
pulling,  twisting  and  grappling,  each  to  down  the  other,  but  when  the 
king's  man  threw  Avenant  over  his  back  he  was  on  his  feet  as  quick  as 
lightning  and  holding  the  other  in  his  mighty  grasp.  Then  by  unfair 
means  the  wrestler  sought  to  end  the  game  by  getting  a  strangling  hold 
on  the  throat  of  Avenant,  which  filled  him  with  such  a  mighty  rage  that 
he  threw  himself  upon  the  other  with  such  force  both  came  to  the  ground 
with  a  crash  and  the  cruel  hands  relaxed  and  the  man  lay  vanquished. 

"Long  live  Ar-Ya,"  cried  the  assembled  hosts  for  it  was  a  pretty  fight 
and  men  love  such  things,  no  matter  who  wins.  Avenant  turned  to  the 
dais  where  Una  sat,  and  his  breath  came  fast  and  quick  from  his  mighty 


FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN  27 

exertion.  She  stood  and  looked  at  him.  He  had  proved  his  lord  and 
master  to  all  those  people  and  she  loved  him  for  it. 

So  the  warriors  agreed  that  Una  had  been  fairly  won,  and  they  then 
asked  her  what  she  desired. 

"I  wish  to  wed  Prince  Ar-Ya  of  the  Land  of  the  Ar-Yans,"  she  said, 
"and  to  go  to  him  under  escort  of  Avenant  and  my  own  Bright  Ones,  and 
to  fetch  with  me  my  nurse,  Resonia,  and  to  take  my  farewell  of  all  these 
who  have  given  us  home  and  shelter  all  these  years  since  I  was  but  a 
child  of  three." 

So  the  herald  gave  forth  the  announcement  and  presently  all  were 
marching  by  in  twos  and  threes  and  fours  and  waving  their  hands  to  her 
while  she  was  bowing  and  smiling  acknowledgment  in  return.  For 
you  must  know  that  it  takes  a  real  queen  to  bow  with  graciousness  to 
her  subjects. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  TREACHERY  OF  THAT  TERRIBLE  DAY. 

Now  this  was  not  what  the  king  of  the  land  had  arranged  for  in  the 
least,  nor  what  Jalassa  had  planned  for.  It  spoiled  everything.  However 
the  king  would  interfere  as  soon  as  he  could  manage  it.  So  he  had  the 
herald  announcing  that  the  ceremony  of  marriage  between  Una  and 
Prince  Ar-Ya  would  take  place  by  proxy  in  the  temple  with  Avenant  as 
the  representative  for  the  Prince,  and  all  should  turn  in  that  direction. 

The  poor  old  warriors  were  dunderheads  in  a  way — so  they  went  in 
a  body  to  the  dais  of  the  king  of  that  land  to  explain  to  him  that  he 
had  made  a  mistake — there  was  to  be  no  marriage  there  at  all,  for  they 
proposed  to  see  their  young  queen  wed  to  her  Prince  at  first  hand  at  the 
end  of  her  journey,  and  they  were  going  to  start  right  away  and  not 
trouble  him  any  more,  but  thank  him  for  all  he  had  done. 

So  this  was  the  great  moment  for  all  the  treachery  of  that  terrible 
day. 

Princess  Jalassa  had  crept  in  behind  the  old  nurse  and  as  quick  as 
a  wink,  she  had  her  slaves  seizing  her  and  Una  and  smothering  them  in 
sacks  drawn  over  their  heads,  and  handing  them  to  the  Prince  of  the 
Blacks  to  carry  away — all  in  an  instant  like  lightning  out  of  clear  skies. 
Then  she  threw  her  own  black  veil  over  one  of  her  women  and  had  her 
take  the  place  of  the  nurse,  while  she  herself  stood  there  in  white  and 
silver,  all  veiled  in  white,  which  she  drew  over  her  face  carefully,  in  the 
very  spot  on  the  dais  where  the  Fair  One  with  Golden  Locks  had  been 
but  the  second  before.  Upon  herself  was  a  wig  of  long  golden  tresses 
made  from  dyed  wool,  so  that  at  first  sight  no  one  could  have  told  the 
difference,  only  that  she  was  long  and  lean  and  lanky  in  build  and  be 
neath  the  veil  were  thick  lips  and  flat  features. 

Then  came  the  huntsmen  on  a  rush,  in  too  much  haste  to  notice  the 
difference,  and  they  seized  the  false  Una  and  fled  with  her  to  the  forest 
to  the  lodge  of  the  king.  Jalassa  was  well  pleased  with  all  her  success 
for  she  had  driven  Una  away  from  the  kingdom  and  her  brother  the 
king  would  never  see  her  again. 

The  only  trouble  was  that  the  huntsmen  had  forgotten  to  take  the 
false  nurse  along  with  them,  thus  the  news  would  get  out  the  sooner. 
But  the  huntsmen  thought  if  they  had  the  bride  the  old  nurse  did  not 
matter. 

\Yhen  the  warriors  returned  and  found  no  Una,  they  were  dumb 
with  astonishment.  The  one  who  pretended  she  was  the  nurse  pointed 
to  the  temple  and  they  strode  there  to  find  all  the  people  in  a  state  of 
confusion  for  Avenant  stood  there  alone.  Then  back  they  marched  on 
a  double-quick  to  ask  the  nurse  further,  and  found  her  about  to  depart. 
They  pulled  off  her  black  veil  and  found  she  was  but  a  mockery. 

Those  doughty  men  with  their  golden  circlets  on  their  foreheads  and 
with  their  bright  beards  and  waving  tresses,  ran  hither  and  thither  seek 
ing  Avenant,  but  Avenant  was  no  more  to  be  seen.  Nor  could  they 
find  the  king  of  the  land.  When  they  knew  treachery  had  been  dealt 
them,  and  that  their  beloved  young  queen  whom  they  had  served  all  their 


FAIRY  TALE  Ol<   '////•    WHITE  MAN  29 

lives  had  been  stolen  from  them,  the  veins  stood  out  on  their  foreheads 
like  knotted  cords.  What  if  harm  should  befall  her?  What  if  evil 
should  be  in  the  hearts  of  the  despoilers?  They  grew  calm  with  the 
calmness  of  death. 

The  different  caravans  were  slowly  making  ready  to  go  on  their 
various  journeys.  They  consulted  with  each  other  in  a  quick  counsel. 
Two  would  go  with  each  caravan  in  disguise  as  drivers,  two  would  stay 
in  the  city,  the  rest  would  follow  the  king  to  the  death.  For  they  felt 
certain  that  it  was  he  who  had  planned  and  carried  out  the  deed  of 
darkness. 

So  it  was  done  and  each  went  to  his  task  with  silent  but  tremendous 
energy.  Those  who  were  to  follow  the  king  had  lost  much  time  but  they 
divided  up  and  with  the  swiftness  of  bloodhounds  tracked  him,  and  thus 
came  at  last  to  the  lodge  in  the  forest.  On  the  hedge  was  a  piece  of 
white-and-silver  tissue,  and  a  lock  of  golden  hair  which  they  snatched 
to  gaze  upon,  but  in  an  instant  they  were  thrown  into  confusion  seeing 
that  the  tress  was  but  dyed  lamb's  wool. 

"A  trick  to  deceive  us,"  they  cried  and  hastened  the  faster. 

There  were  the  huntsmen  all  within  in  gay  array,  laughing  and 
drinking  and  singing  ribald  songs  as  they  drank  to  the  health  of  the  bride. 
So  the  warriors  broke  in  upon  their  revels  and  slew  them  all  in  their 
terrible  rage,  and  then  broke  in  through  the  inner  door  of  the  inner  room 
and  found,  what?  It  was  Jalassa,  in  all  her  foolish  finery,  ragged  and 
torn,  and  the  yellow  wig  was  lying  on  the  floor,  and  she  was  laughing, 
laughing  and  talking  gibberish  as  she  pointed  to  the  floor  where  lay  the 
king  of  the  land  with  a  knife  in  his  heart.  When  he  discovered  how 
he  had  been  cheated  of  his  bride,  he  had  struck  her  down  to  the  earth, 
and  she  had  snatched  at  his  hunting-knife  as  she  fell  and  had  sprung  at 
him  and  had  taken  his  life,  and  her  own  reason  had  fled. 

It  was  a  terrible  end  to  that  wonderful  day  of  splendor  and  color 
and  marching  hosts  and  moving  caravans  of  other  lands.  Sadly  the 
warriors  returned  to  tell  the  dreadful  news,  while  still  hunting  for  their 
young  queen. 

But  no  word  could  they  get.  Where  was  she,  that  Fair  One  with 
Golden  Locks?  And  the  awful  story  caused  a  panic  in  that  city  by 
the  desert,  and  when  the  body  of  the  king  of  that  land  was  brought  in, 
it  was  met  by  the  wives  and  children  who  spat  upon  it  and  cursed  his 
name  and  prayed  it  might  be  mentioned  never  more  for  his  disowning*  of 
them.  And  the  men  rose  upon  one  side  and  the  other  and  slew  each 
other  and  the  caravan-people  hastened  to  escape,  one  to  the  East,  one  to 
the  South,  and  the  third  toward  the  West. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

WHERE    WAS    AVENANT? 

The  warriors  sought  the  caravan  of  Avenant  and  it  was  already  on 
its  way,  the  oxen  now  despoiled  of  their  garlands  and  every  one  dis 
heveled  and  disordered  as  he  went  away  from  that  city  in  haste.  Where 
was  Avenant?  No  one  knew. 

They  had  no  leader  and  simply  got  away  expecting  him  to  catch  up 
with  them  when  they  halted  at  nightfall. 

Two  men  in  disguise  came  forth  and  assured  them,  the  main  body  of 
Una's  men  who  were  asking  these  questions — that  this  was  the  truth. 
They  were  the  two  warriors  told  off  to  seek  the  caravan  of  Avenant.  So 
then  these  two  joined  the  others  to  go  back  in  search  of  both  Avenant 
and  Una,  the  Queen  of  the  Bright  Ones,  as  well  as  her  nurse,  old 
Resonia,  who  might  yet  be  found  in  either  of  the  other  two  caravans. 
First,  then,  they  went  toward  the  East,  running  swiftly  to  discover  what 
the  two  warriors  there  might  have  to  tell  them  of  the  lost  ones. 

The  procession  of  the  Yellow  Kingdom  had  come  to  a  halt.  Some 
thing  evidently  was  the  matter.  As  they  arrived  at  the  scene  they  found 
there  was  a  fierce  conflict  going  on  over  the  possession  of  a  pearl  neck 
lace  and  a  crown  of  gold  set  with  diamonds,  rubies  and  emeralds — the 
very  one  that  had  been  laid  at  the  feet  of  the  Fair  One  as  she  sat  on 
the  dais  that  morning  in  her  bridal  array.  And  the  necklace  also  had 
been  hers,  clasped  about  her  throat  only  a  few  hours  before.  Also  there 
were  ivory  carvings,  and  the  idols  and  a  bale  of  softest  cottons  of  African 
weave. 

The  warriors  did  not  stop  to  ask  any  questions.  They  simply  joined 
in  the  battle,  and  when  they  had  finished,  a  score  of  men  of  yellow  faces 
lay  upon  the  ground  dead  or  sorely  wounded,  among  the  latter  of  whom 
was  the  Prince  of  the  Yellow  Kingdom  who  had  come  to  get  him  a  peer 
less  bride,  and  now  had  a  broken  crown  for  all  his  pains. 

He  tried  to  explain  that  some  of  his  bale-bearers  had  seen  the 
treasures  lying  there  abandoned  upon  the  dais,  after  the  flight  of  the 
bride,  and  had  merely  gathered  them  up  for  safe-keeping,  but  when  the 
news  of  the  death  of  the  king  of  that  land  had  been  brought  back  to  the 
city,  they  did  not  know  to  whom  to  give  them.  So  they  were  fighting 
among  themselves  to  see  who  should  have  the  honor  of  carrying  them 
back  to  present  to  the  lord  chamberlain. 

Very  wily  and  cunning  was  the  Yellow  Prince,  and  the  warriors 
were  about  to  believe  him,  for  they  were  honest  fellows  themselves, 
when  the  two  disguised  Bright  Ones  came  forth  and  revealed  the  fact 
that  they,  in  searching  for  evidence  of  the  lost  ones,  had  themselves  un 
covered  the  necklace  and  crown,  which  then  had  become  the  cause  of 
the  contention,  each  one  claiming  the  spoils  as  his. 

Very  glad  was  the  Prince  of  the  Yellow  Kingdom  to  yield  up  these 
treasures  and  be  allowed  to  continue  his  journey  in  peace,  but  he  was 
questioned  closely  as  to  the  presence  there  of  the  lost  ones  and  gave  full 
permission  to  examine  everything  to  prove  his  words  that  Avenant  nor 
anyone  else  besides  the  disguised  warriors,  was  there  hidden  in  their 
caravan. 


FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN  31 

So  it  appeared,  for  not  a  sign  of  any  living  thing  could  be  discovered 
there  that  was  not  their  own.  So  with  apologies  for  the  violence  done, 
the  warriors  took  their  departure  carrying  between  them  all  the  treasures 
which  had  been  stolen  from  the  city  by  the  desert. 

But  as  they  began  to  race  on  their  journey  to  the  South,  leaving  all 
behind  them,  the  Yellow  Prince  called  after  them  thus :  "We  shall  meet 
again  some  day,  ye  villains  of  the  White  Race,  and  the  longer  delayed,  the 
greater  my  malignity!" 

But  those  poor  old  warriors  had  only  one  thought  to  keep  them  alive, 
and  that  was  to  find  their  young  queen.  What  did  they  care  for  them 
selves?  Simply  nothing.  To  protect  the  young  and  the  innocent  and 
the  aged  was  their  whole  idea  of  existence.  For  what  else  were  they 
made  so  strong  and  so  mighty? 


CHAPTER  VII. 

"Wli    WANT    OUR    LAMBKIN    AND    OUR    DOVE." 

At  last  they  caught  up  with  the  caravan  of  the  Prince  of  the  Black 
Kingdom,  for  the  camels  were  lying  down,  and  they  had  come  to  a  halt, 
and  the  twilight  was  dying  down  in  the  darkness.  Little  fires  were  burn 
ing  here  and  there,  and  tall  blacks  were  preparing  food  over  them  for 
the  feeding  of  the  followers. 

The  warriors  pretended — yes,  at  last,  they  got  up  a  tale  of  some 
sort  about  wanting  to  buy  something  from  them,  a  camel  or  a  black  slave- 
boy,  or  anklets  or  a  tambourine  or  almost  anything,  even  an  idol,  each 
one  going  around  on  his  own  hook  looking  hither  and  thither  and  peeping 
within  the  curtains  of  the  tents  and  searching  for  the  lost  ones  secretly. 
For  they  had  resolved  not  to  mention  the  name  of  their  young  queen, 
not  even  in  a  breath.  It  was  too  sacred  to  speak  in  such  a  place. 
Whether  they  found  her  and  her  nurse  or  not,  that  name  should  never 
be  spoken.  They  would  not  admit  it  to  be  possible  that  such  a  terrible 
thing  as  her  being  stolen  away  by  blacks  could  happen. 

They  would  be  torn  to  pieces  by  wild  beasts  before  they  would  admit 
it.  So  you  can  see  they  had  to  be  rather  clever  to  get  what  they  wanted 
without  asking  for  it. 

The  first  thing  was  to  find  the  two  disguised  warriors  who  were 
already  there  with  faces  blacked  up  to  match  those  among  whom  they 
were.  But  even  they,  when  discovered,  had  no  clue  to  give  them  what 
ever  of  the  lost  ones. 

"The  only  thing  that  seems  strange,"  spoke  one,  "is  a  black  driver  of 
the  camels,  and  he  goes  about  saying  something  I  cannot  understand  as 
if  talking  to  each  tent  as  he  passes." 

"Show  him  to  us,"  said  Moondy,  the  chief  warrior.  So  they  watched 
and  waited  and  followed  when  this  driver  of  camels  was  pointed  out  to 
them.  He  was  tall,  clad  in  a  long  gray  robe,  on  his  head  was  drapery 
with  turban  on  top,  and  such  of  his  face  as  showed,  which  was  the 
upper  part,  was  black.  There  was  certainly  something  mysterious  about 
him,  for  although  he  attended  to  the  needs  of  the  camels,  every  few 
moments  he  would  stray  away  and  seek  another  tent.  The  Bright  Ones 
followed  and  listened. 

Presently  the  gray-robed  sheik  or  whatever  he  was,  approached  a 
tent  and  leaning  forward  as  if  listening  for  reply,  spoke  thus :  "Fear 
not,  O  queen — "  and  the  rest  of  it  would  be  too  low  in  utterance  for  them 
to  make  out. 

They  were  much  puzzled  by  this  strange  performance  so  they  kept 
on  following.  At  last  one  of  them  caught  the  other  words — "Avenant  is 
here." 

The  poor  old  warriors  were  staggered  as  it  dawned  on  them  that 
here  was  the  lost  Avenant,  at  any  rate,  and  he  was  seeking  for  her,  their 
hearts'  treasure,  and  her  nurse,  even  as  they  were.  So  the  two  who  were 
disguised  even  as  he  was,  approached  him  and  held  out  their  hands  to 
him  silently  and  he  spoke  no  word,  but  touched  his  lip  significantly  and 
went  on  his  way  as  before. 


FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN  33 

Then  they  heard  a  bleat  from  within  a  tent  and  the  coo  of  a  dove. 
The  tall,  gray  figure  stooped  low  and  spoke  with  thrilling  utterance: 
''Fear  not,  O  queen,  Avenant  is  here."  They  listened  with  all  their 
hearts. 

Then  came  the  sound  as  of  a  bird  when  startled  in  the  nest,  which 
was  a  well-known  signal  to  them  from  the  days  when  they  all  were  fleeing 
from  the  terrible  Something  in  the  land  of  Sunrise. 

"It  is  she,"  they  said  and  their  brave  hearts  beat  faster  yet  with 
relief  at  the  welcome  sound  of  that  precious  note  of  response,  and  the 
salt  tears  filled  their  eyes  and  rolled  down  their  cheeks  and  wet  their 
beards.  Then  they  clenched  their  mighty  fists  and  were  for  smashing 
down  that  tent,  before  you  could  say  "Jack  Robinson."  That  was  their 
way,  poor  fellows. 

But  Avenant  smiled  at  them  under  his  blackened  visage. 

"Let  us  be  honest  with  each  other,"  he  said,  "but  with  enemies  we 
must  be  clever."  They  knew  this  was  good  advice,  so  yielded  and  ac 
cepted  him  as  their  captain. 

"How  many  are  we?"  asked  Avenant  in  a  low  voice.  He  did  not 
want  to  stop  to  count  them  for  himself. 

"Thirty-nine  of  us  and  one  of  you,"  said  Moondy,  stupidly. 

"Then  that  makes  forty,"  said  Avenant  with  another  smile.  "We 
must  all  hang  together  or  we  shall  all  hang  apart.  Come !  is  it  a 
bargain  ?" 

Solemnly  they  all  shook  hands  with  him  and  each  other. 

"How  many  of  the  enemy  ?"  he  asked  one  of  the  disguised  ones. 

"One  hundred  and  twenty — " 

"Then  that  makes  three  men  apiece  for  us  and  three  more — who'll 
take  four?"  Each  hand  was  lifted  to  the  skies  in  witness,  so  that  the 
three  extra  ones  to  be  dealt  with  might  well  be  trembling  in  their  sandals 
if  only  they  knew  it. 

Now  of  course  the  Prince  of  the  Blacks  was  no  fool.  Forty  men 
could  not  be  colleaguing  like  this  alongside  of  his  caravan  in  the  dark, 
and  actually  knock  down  and  drag  out  himself  and  his  escort  and  camel- 
drivers  without  their  knowing  it,  all  at  one  fell  swoop  as  if  they  were 
so  many  bags  of  straw !  Not  at  all.  They  were  not  only  flesh  and 
blood  but  tremendous  fighters  themselves.  They  generally  won  at  first 
by  the  crude  strength  of  their  brute  force.  It  was  only  by  the  long 
endurance  and  greater  stamina  of  the  Whites  that  they  could  overcome 
the  Blacks  in  the  battle  finally.  In  other  words  the  Whites  could  worry 
the  Blacks  longer  than  the  Blacks  could  worry  the  Whites,  for  that 
was  their  great  point.  Often  the  Whites  did  not  know  that  they  were 
beaten  and  kept  on  and  on  until  the  other  side  was  so  tired  of  them, 
they  were  glad  to  give  up  just  to  get  rid  of  them.  Their  enemies  just 
got  tired  seeing  them  around  and  let  them  win  on  purpose.  This  is 
a  "true"  fact.  It  has  happened  more  than  once. 

Of  course  the  Prince  of  the  Blacks  knew  something  was  going  on. 
So  as  it  was  evident  that  his  presence  was  needed,  what  wonder  at  that 
moment  that  himself  and  his  men  should  be  appearing  on  the  scene  with 
drawn  scimitars  or  bludgeons  or  spears  or  whatever  weapon  first  came 
to  hand  (only  not  guns  because  there  were  no  guns  in  those  days)  and 
demanding  what  was  the  matter. 


34  FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN 

So  of  course,  to  gain  time,  the  old  warriors  with  white  faces  kept 
up  their  first  tale  that  they  wanted  to  buy  some  ivory  or  gimcracks  of 
some  kind  from  the  caravan,  and  then  the  Prince  of  the  Blacks,  in  his 
grand  ostrich  plumes,  of  course  would  laugh  at  them.  And  then  sud 
denly  while  Moondy  was  palavering  and  saying,  "We  came  for  our  dove 
and  our  lambkin  and  we  are  going  to  have  them.  We  went  to  the  other 
caravan  and  got  what  they  stole  from  us  and  now  we  want  what  you've 
got" — the  others  would  pounce  on  the  Prince  and  his  chief  man  and  try 
to  take  them  prisoners. 

At  once  the  alarm  would  be  given  to  the  men  of  the  caravan  and  a 
lot  of  fellows  would  come  running  to  help. 

"We  want  our  lambkin  and  our  dove,"  the  warriors  would  keep  on 
insisting  like  a  strange  new  battle-cry  in  the  midst  of  the  confusion. 

But  meanwhile  the  Prince  with  his  plumes  would  be  yanked  off  in 
the  darkness  while  he  was  still  fighting,  and  the  poor  old  warriors  would 
get  some  cuts  and  the  Prince  would  get  banged  around,  but  it  would 
not  hurt  his  skull  to  pound  it,  so  he  would  thrash  around  and  nearly  free 
himself,  and  then  a  quick  foot  would  trip  him,  and  down  he  would  go 
like  a  log  with  a  warrior  on  top  of  him  to  hold  him.  But  presently 
he  would  roll  over  and  the  warrior  be  underneath. 

Then  the  others  of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty  men  were  fighting 
too,  only  I  remember  now  that  some  of  them  were  boys,  so  of  course 
they  would  hide  out  of  harm's  way  till  all  was  over.  They  always  find 
boys  in  corners  after  a  battle  comes  to  an  end.  Nobody  wants  to  hurt 
a  boy,  that  is  why  they  bear  such  charmed  lives. 

Only  in  this  instance  a  strange  thing  happened.  A  slim  little  fellow 
came  out  from  a  certain  tent  running,  bearing  in  his  arms  a  dove  and 
a  lambkin,  and  handed  them  to  the  first  warrior  he  saw,  and  then  ran 
back  again  leading  a  camel  with  him. 

"X<nv  we  want  our  bird  and  our  knitter,"  cried  each  of  the  Bright 
Ones,  more  fiercely  than  before  when  he  had  been  yelling  for  his  dove 
and  his  lambkin.  By  this  he  would  not  speak  the  sacred  name  of  his 
young  queen,  but  start  the  cry  for  her  and  her  nurse  just  the  same. 

From  the  other  side  of  the  tent  there  came  out  another  boy  and 
another  and  another  with  their  arms  full  of  salvers  and  jade  bracelets 
and  bales  of  embroidered  silks  and  with  them  two  figures  swathed  in 
black,  scarcely  to  be  seen  in  the  darkness,  and  the  boy  with  the  camel 
still  leading  it  along — as  they  hastened  away  all  together  on  the  back 
track  whence  the  caravan  had  come,  heading  for  the  city  near  the 
desert. 

Still  the  cry  went  up  from  those  who  did  not  know  what  had  hap 
pened,  "We  want  our  lambkin  and  our  dove,"  varied  by  the  cries  of 
others  who  were  now  demanding,  "We  want  our  bird  and  our  knitter." 

But  the  boys  went  on  bravely  with  the  camel,  and  after  a  while  it 
was  made  to  kneel  while  the  two  bundles  in  black  got  on  and  took  their 
goods  and  the  bales  with  them,  and  still  the  boys  went  on  into  the  dis 
tance.  There  were  about  ten  of  them,  bright-eyed,  slim  little  fellows,  so 
that  left  only  one  hundred  and  ten  to  be  settled  with,  back  at  the  caravan. 

It  was  an  awful  affair.  I  don't  admire  blood-letting  myself.  But 
people  who  like  that  sort  of  thing  will  find  so  much  of  this  later  on  that 
they  will  be  perfectly  satisfied  before  they  finish  with  this  fairy  history  of 


FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN  35 

the  White  Man.  When  all  was  over,  it  was  much  like  what  had  happened 
at  the  other  caravan ;  some  were  dead,  some  badly  wounded,  among 
whom  was  the  Prince  of  the  Blacks.  He  was  too  weak  to  say  much. 

He  let  the  warriors — and  two  of  them  would  fight  no  more,  poor 
fellows,  for  they  were  among  the  slain ! — he  let  the  ones  who  were  still 
able  to  clamor  for  their  lost  ones  go  into  all  the  tents  seeking  her  who 
was  more  precious  than  dove  or  lambkin. 

Avenant  and  the  two  disguised  ones  passing  for  blacks  had  come 
out  of  the  fray  as  strong  as  when  they  went  in.  They  carried  the  dove 
and  the  lambkin  with  them,  but  saw  no  sign  of  her  whom  they  sought 
nor  of  her  faithful  nurse. 

In  despair  they  returned  to  the  Prince  and  threatened  to  finish  him 
if  he  did  not  yield  up  the  secret.  So  the  whole  story  came  out  about 
Jalassa,  and  how  she  had  plotted  against  her  brother,  and  how  she  had 
been  the  cause  of  the  deed  of  darkness. 

"But  where  are  they  now?"  demanded  Avenant. 

Weak  and  spent  with  all  he  had  gone  through  and  fearing  the  further 
wrath  of  these  terrible  warriors,  the  Prince  of  the  Blacks  feigned  to 
swoon  with  terror. 

At  this  moment,  a  driver  came  up  and  told  of  the  loss  of  a  camel 
and  ten  small  boys.  The  warriors  and  their  captain  held  a  council.  Was 
this  a  trick  or  not,  to  get  them  to  go  away? 

"Is  it  like  her  to  do  a  thing  like  this  ?"  asked  Avenant,  who  of  course 
was  not  at  all  acquainted  with  the  ways  of  women  and  girls. 

"Yes,"  replied  old  Moondy,  "she  ordered  our  march  when  she  was 
but  a  child  of  three.  Doubtless  she  has  taken  flight  with  her  nurse 
while  we  were  engaged,  and  has  retained  these  boys  as  escort."  Then 
it  was  discovered  that  the  bales  of  silks  and  the  jade  ornaments  were 
missing  also. 

Two  of  the  poor  old  warriors  winked  at  each  other.  "She  always 
did  know  what  she  was  about,"  they  murmured. 

So  the  Bright  Ones  and  Avenant  then  offered  their  apologies  to  the 
Prince  of  the  Blacks,  who  no  more  wore  proudly  his  white  ostrich 
plumes,  but  was  all  battered  and  banged  and  in  rags  from  all  his  terrible 
battling,  and  so  glad  to  see  them  departing  that  he  generously  offered 
them  the  missing  camel  with  all  its  load  and  escort,  should  they  happen 
to  meet  it  in  their  travels. 

So  they  wished  him  a  safe  journey,  and  after  girding  themselves  up 
for  a  new  quest  in  search  of  the  lost  ones,  they  fell  into  order  like  a 
battalion  might  and  went  forth  in  a  quick-stepping  march  toward  the  city 
by  the  desert. 

"May  earthquakes  open  before  you,"  roared  the  Prince  of  the  Blacks 
after  them  when  they  could  no  longer  hear.  "May  volcanoes  pour  down 
their  lava  upon  you,  may  floods  overtake  you  and  storms  destroy  you,  ye 
accursed  White  villains  of  the  WHITE  RACE !" 

And  he  went  on  his  way  to  tell  all  whom  he  met,  of  the  perfidy  of 
the  White  Man  and  the  miserable  end  of  his  quest. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  APPROACH   AND  THE  FAREWELL  TO  THE  CITY  OF  JALASSA. 

It  was  now  approaching  dawn.  A  tremendous  quivering  of  light 
fell  athwart  the  earth,  as  the  rosy  and  the  purple  clouds  parted  and  the 
great  sun  rolled  up  like  a  golden  chariot-wheel  from  the  caves  of  dark 
ness  to  cross  the  brilliant  blue  of  the  heavens  once  more.  In  the  silence 
on  that  lonely  road  no  sound  was  heard  save  of  marching  feet. 

Sometimes  they  would  stop  and  mount  one  upon  another's  shoulders 
to  look  ahead  as  from  a  watch-tower. 

"What  do  you  see,  Brother  mine?"  would  be  the  call  to  the  highest 
one. 

"I  see  a  little  cloud  of  dust."  So  they  would  tumble  down  one  after 
another  from  the  watchman-tower,  hurry  the  faster  and  then  try  it  again. 

"What  do  you  see  now,  Brother  mine?" 

"I  see  a  camel  and  it  is  surrounded  by  an  escort  of  boys  and  it  is 
well  loaded. 

They  fairly  raced  after  this,  in  spite  of  all  their  weariness  and  sorrow 
at  the  loss  of  two  of  their  beloved  champions  left  behind — but  it  was  the 
living  first  before  the  dead  that  claimed  them. 

So  they  approached  and  surrounded  the  small  caravan  of  one  camel 
and  ten  drivers,  which  yet  was  more  precious  to  them  than  another  a 
mile  long  composed  of  hundreds  of  camels  each  loaded  with  diamonds 
and  pearls. 

As  they  caught  up,  one  of  those  mounted  upon  the  camel  drew  back 
her  hood  and  veil  of  black  and  scanned  them  over  quickly.  Did  she  note 
that  some  of  her  warriors  were  lacking? — for  two  were  gone,  three  had 
black  faces,  two  had  yellow  faces.  If  so,  they  never  knew.  She  said  only 
this:  'Where  is  Avenant?" 

Old  Moondy,  chief  of  the  warriors,  finding  her  safe  and  sound  after 
all  their  agonies  in  searching  for  her,  took  refuge  in  silence.  Maybe  he 
was  thinking  of  the  two  who  would  march  with  them  no  more. 

And  the  others  followed  his  example,  for  they  were  all  worn  out  and 
began  to  feel  how  hollow  their  stomachs  were  all  at  once. 

"I  asked  you,  father,  where  is  Avenant?"  she  demanded  imperiously. 
For  of  course  it  was  Una,  the  queen  of  the  Bright  Ones. 

"Where  should  he  be  but  in  his  own  caravan  on  its  way  to  the  land 
of  the  Ar-Yans,"  spoke  Moondy  for  he  thought  it  just  as  well  to  keep 
his  presence  a  secret  for  awhile ;  any  way  he  had  had  nothing  to  eat  for 
such  a  long  time  he  felt  cross  and  did  not  want  anything  to  interfere  with 
getting  something  to  eat  as  soon  as  possible. 

"Bid  the  camel  to  kneel."  spoke  Una  to  one  of  the  boys.  You  might 
wonder  how  they  could  understand  her  when  they  had  a  different  lan 
guage.  But  then  a  woman  has  all  languages  at  her  command  when  it 
comes  to  talking  to  the  young.  There  is  an  archaic  speech  that  belongs 
to  childhood  which  we  all  know  in  the  beginning  the  same  as  creeping 
but  which  we  leave  off  after  we  leave  babyhood  behind  us.  But  all  nat 
ural  girls  and  women  who  love  the  young  can  always  remember  this  old- 


FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN  37 

fashioned  kind  of  talk  when  there  is  need  for  it.  Besides  these  little 
fellows  wanted  to  serve  her,  the  same  as  did  all  who  ever  came  to  know 
her,  and  that  was  why  they  had  helped  her  to  escape  even  from  their  own 
people.  They  felt  her  wonderful  power  and  were  glad  to  do  as  she  bade 
them.  And  many  a  time  in  later  days  have  we  seen  this  same  faithful 
ness. 

When  Una  had  stepped  to  the  ground  and  had  found  a  resting- 
place  for  her  nurse,  she  bade  these  faithful  little  boys  to  build  her  a  fire 
and  then  to  get  the  water-bottles  from  the  camel,  which  was  done  quickly. 

She  came  forward  and  busied  herself  brewing  something  over  the 
fire  and  Avenant  noticed  that  she  stirred  it  with  a  dagger  she  took  from 
her  dress.  And  he  wondered.  Nevertheless,  in  his  darkened  visage  and 
costume  of  a  sheik  or  camel-driver  he  shrank  from  sight,  and  kept  very 
obscure  in  his  place  behind  the  other  warriors. 

They  were  sitting  down  comfortably  on  the  ground  saying  nothing 
but  watching  her  hungrily  and  thirstily  for  they  were  sore  and  bruised 
and  nearly  broken  to  pieces.  They  were  great  fighters  but  she  was  the 
great  soother. 

Soon  she  passed  the  cup  to  the  little  fellows  who  handed  it  around, 
and  then  the  unleavened  bread  she  gave  them  from  a  basket  she  had 
provided  from  the  tent  of  the  caravan,  for  she  always  knew  beforehand 
what  would  be  needed  for  her  warriors,  and  presently  they  all  felt 
better. 

"What  is  this?  Blood?"  she  murmured,  touching  the  arm  of  one 
and  the  brow  of  another,  and  at  once  she  began  to  bind  up  the  wounds 
with  a  piece  of  linen  she  tore  from  her  inner  garment. 

All  at  once  the  lamb  bleated  and  the  dove  cooed. 

"That  is  well,"  she  said,  "I  would  not  have  lost  them  for  the  world." 

Then  she  noticed  the  ivory  ornaments,  the  salvers,  the  bale  of  silks 
they  had  brought  along  and  thrown  down  on  the  ground,  also  the  crown 
of  gold  of  the  king  of  the  land.  And  she  shivered  and  turned  pale  and 
would  have  fallen  only  that  the  one  she  called  "father"  held  her  safely. 

"What  do  you  with  these?"  she  asked. 

"They  are  the  spoils  of  war,"  was  his  grim  answer. 

"Nay,  they  are  nothing  but  stolen  goods,"  she  insisted,  "and  we 
must  give  them  back." 

"That  is  impossible,"  replied  Moondy.  "Besides,  the  Prince  of  the 
Yellow  Kingdom  is  far  away  by  now  and  being  wounded  cares  not  to 
see  us  ;  the  Prince  of  the  Blacks  is  badly  wounded  and  wishes  never  to 
behold  us  again,  and  besides" — here  his  voice  broke — poor  old  warrior- 
trying  to  appear  harder-hearted  than  he  was,  "besides  they  have  killed 
two  of  our  Brothers  who  lie  slain  in  the  midst  of  their  slain,  and  the 
king  of  the  land  is  dead  by  the  hand  of  his  sister,  and  she,  Jalassa,  is 
bereft  of  her  reason.  The  city  is  in  a  tumult  and  it  is  not  safe  to  venture 
there  again.  Besides  we  are  spent  and  worn." 

"Sleep  then,"  she  said,  "and  we  will  see  about  it." 

So  they  lay  down  and  slept  and  took  on  new  life.  When  they 
wakened  she  had  another  cup  of  brew  for  them,  and  more  unleavened 
bread  and  a  few  nuts  and  dried  figs  which  refreshed  them.  So  they 
came  to  themselves  once  more. 

All  this  while  the  Wise  Woman,  Una's  nurse,  went  on  with  her 


38  FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN 

knitting,  for  she  was  working  all  this  history  into  her  web  for  future 
reference. 

It  makes  no  difference  what  was  said  or  done,  the  fact  remains  that 
they  all  went  on  to  the  city  near  the  desert  at  the  behest  of  the  young 
Queen  and  there  every  one  stood  in  amazement  to  see  her  once  more, 
returning  on  a  white  camel  surrounded  by  the  small  black  boys  and  the 
warriors. 

The  very  sight  of  her  gave  them  a  thrill.  Her  courage  gave  them 
courage.  They  all  had  had  a  terrible  time  in  that  city  of  dissension  and 
no  one  knew  what  to  do.  The  sons  of  the  dead  king  by  the  different 
mothers  had  arisen  against  each  other  in  rivalry  and  all  were  slain. 
Who  was  there  left  to  be  king  in  the  dead  king's  place? 

The  cry  arose  for  Avenant  and  Una  to  reign  as  king  and  queen  over 
them. 

"Avenant  is  far  away  with  his  caravan,"  spoke  Una  (still  sitting 
upon  her  white  camel).  "He  is  false  to  his  trust  for  he  promised  to  take 
me  to  my  beloved  Prince  Ar-Ya  of  the  land  of  the  Ar-Yans.  But  I  have 
given  my  promise  to  my  lord  and  master  and  I  will  go  to  him  escorted  by 
my  own  faithful  warriors.  I  have  brought  you  back  your  crown — and  to 
you  I  give  all  the  gifts  laid  at  my  feet  for  your  new  queen — the  bales  of 
silk,  the  cottons  of  strange  weave,  the  ivory  carvings  and  the  jade  brace 
lets  and  salvers  of  beaten  silver,  all  the  caskets  of  jewels  the  king  of  the 
land  bestowed  on  me.  You  will  find  the  caskets  safely  buried  in  my 
garden  under  the  potted  plants.  All  I  ask  in  exchange  are  my  own 
linens  and  cottons  I  have  myself  woven  and  dyed,  and  my  own  materials 
hidden  beneath  in  the  cellar  where  I  resided  in  the  palace-garden  those 
years  of  my  childhood.  For  my  Prince  of  Ar-Ya  is  poor  and  I  do  not 
wish  to  go  to  him  empty-handed." 

Filled  with  wonder  and  amazement,  more  and  more  every  moment, 
at  this  bestowal  upon  them  of  the  gifts  given  to  herself,  by  the  young 
Queen  of  the  Bright  Ones,  they  heartily  cheered  her  name  and  brought 
to  her  many  other  things  of  a  lasting,  useful  nature  to  add  to  her  store, 
which  seemed  to  give  her  great  satisfaction — fine  wools  and  chuddah  and 
camel's  hair  and  soft  cottons. 

Still  the  people  were  leaderless,  and  not  knowing  what  to  do. 

Una  felt  sorry  for  them  for  they  had  always  been  kind  to  her. 

"Why  do  you  not  take  your  Prime  Minister  and  his  wife  for  your 
king  and  queen  ?"  she  suggested.  "They  know  exactly  what  to  do  to  run 
the  government  until  you  get  somebody  you  like  better." 

They  thought  it  a  good  idea  and  led  them  forth  and  gave  them  the 
crowns  and  rich  gifts  to  preserve  for  the  future,  and  the  new  king 
ordered  the  bell  to  be  rung  in  token  of  peace,  and  all  the  people  came  to 
order. 

At  the  end  of  the  procession  through  the  street  came  a  pair  of  white 
oxen  yoked  together  with  garlands  on  their  horns,  pulling  the  soft- 
cushioned  chariot  which  had  been  presented  to  Una  the  day  before,  to 
gether  with  the  dove  and  the  lambkin. 

Everybody  was  looking  as  it  came  to  a  halt  before  Una,  who  was 
still  perched  up  on  her  camel  with  all  its  burden  and  her  nurse  behind 
her,  and  Avenant  stepped  forth  and  said,  "Queen  of  the  Bright  Ones, 
your  chariot  awaits  you." 


FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN  39 

Well,  what  could  she  say  after  that?  Imagine  how  she  must  have  felt 
after  telling  all  those  people  he  was  false  to  his  trust — and  there  he  was 
all  the  time. 

The  camel  stooped  down  and  knelt,  and  she  got  off  and  so  did  her 
nurse,  and  they  stepped  into  the  chariot  which  was  much  more  comfort 
able  than  that  wiggly  old  camel  with  its  hump  to  ride  on.  And  the  people 
put  many  nice  things  into  her  wedding-chest,  and  some  other  things  for 
the  journey,  and  she  thanked  them  a  thousand  times.  By  this  moment, 
her  black  mantle  had  fallen  back  and  her  glorious  cloak  of  golden  rain 
had  swung  around  her,  and  she  was  smiling  to  every  one — every  one 
save  Avenant.  But  Avenant  stood  there  stern  and  severe. 

"What  will  you  do  with  your  camel  and  your  escort  of  boys  from 
the  caravan  of  the  Prince  of  the  Black  Kingdom,  O  Queen,"  he  spoke  in 
a  loud  compelling  voice  so  all  could  hear.  "Are  they  the  spoils  of  war 
or  are  they"--  but  he  was  kind  enough  to  stop  there  and  not  add,  "stolen 
goods." 

"Is  there  not  some  caravan  bound  for  the  same  kingdom  soon?" 
asked  Una  of  the  people  (of  course  she  would  not  ask  Avenant),  and  they 
said  there  was. 

She  spoke  in  a  very  stately  way  as  befits  a  queen  and  said  as  follows : 
"Will  you  then  send  with  my  compliments  this  camel  and  these  boys  to 
the  Prince  of  the  Black  Kingdom,  and  express  to  him  my  grateful  thanks 
for  his  great  consideration?"  Then  to  each  of  the  boys  she  gave  a  gift 
enough  to  purchase  his  freedom,  for  they  were  slaves.  And  when  they 
had  reached  their  own  land  once  more  they  spread  the  marvelous  tales 
of  the  beauty  and  grace  and  generosity  of  the  Fair  One  with  Golden 
Locks  everywhere  they  went,  and  the  tales  descended  to  their  children's 
children  till  they  offset  the  curses  sent  after  the  old  warriors  by  the 
Prince  of  the  Blacks,  and  instead,  evoked  blessings  upon  her  head. 

So  now  there  was  nothing  to  detain  them.  All  the  warriors  were 
washed  and  cleaned  and  provided  with  useful  packs  of  food  and 
needfuls  for  the  journey.  The  dove  and  the  lambkin  were  in  the  chariot, 
the  dove  on  Una's  shoulder  and  the  lambkin  against  her  knee.  Every 
one  thought  it  a  beautiful  sight.  Meanwhile  the  Wise  Women  went  on 
with  her  bright  needles  knitting  history. 

So  Avenant  walked  ahead,  and  the  warriors  followed  behind,  on 
each  side  of  the  chariot  guarding,  and  thus  they  passed  from  that  land 
ever  more  on  toward  that  beloved  WEST  which  had  always  called  them, 
even  from  the  years  long  before.  And  the  name  of  the  king  of  that  land 
was  forgotten  as  the  wives  and  children  had  prayed  it  would  be.  But  as 
for  the  sister  of  the  king,  her  name  remained.  In  long  after  years  when 
anyone  hated  another  because  of  her  beauty  or  gifts,  it  became  the  custom 
to  say,  "Now  don't  be  jealous  like  Jalassa  or  her  fate  will  be  yours." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

BOUND  FOR  THE  LAND  OF  AR-YA. 

\Yhen  they  arrived  that  night  at  the  caravan  which  was  waiting  for 
them,  all  was  joy  and  delight.  Everyone  was  greeting  Avenant  and 
hailing  him  with  such  expressions  of  gratitude  for  his  safety  and  escape 
from  all  the  dangers  which  had  assailed  him,  that  Una  almost  felt  herself 
slighted.  Of  course  she  had  always  occupied  the  center  of  attention 
and  it  seemed  strange  to  her  to  hear  some  one  else  being  made  of  more 
importance  than  she  was. 

But  to  tell  the  truth  she  and  her  warriors  were  strangers  among 
them,  the  Ar-Yans,  as  yet — with  all  save  Avenant  himself.  And  he  was 
busy  preparing  for  their  arduous  journey  across  the  desert.  There  would 
have  to  be  food  and  water  for  man  and  beast,  and  weapons  ready  in  case 
of  an  attack  from  unexpected  enemies.  He  delayed  and  sent  back  to  the 
city  of  Jalassa,  as  they  grew  to  call  that  place,  for  more  supplies  in  order 
to  feel  sure  he  was  right  before  he  went  ahead.* 

Meanwhile  was  Una,  the  Queen  of  the  Bright  Ones,  idle  while  all 
this  was  going  on?  Not  at  all.  She  had  been  getting  ready  for  this 
moment  all  her  life.  She  had  turned  her  ox-chariot  into  a  sort  of  tent 
for  herself  and  her  nurse,  old  Resonia,  who  never  ceased  knitting  at  her 
web,  and  had  packed  her  things  away  carefully  into  the  smallest  compass 
possible,  and  had  taken  off  her  finery  (which  by  this  time  was  in  shreds 
of  course  after  all  she  had  been  through  and  most  inappropriate  for  such 
a  journey  for  it  was  all  silken  tissue  and  spangles).  But  things  were  dif 
ferent  from  what  they  had  been  the  day  previous,  and  she  now 
appeared  in  such  a  change  of  costume  that  it  altered  her  as  if  she  were 
another  being,  and  made  Avenant  give  a  start  of  surprise  when  he  passed 
and  saw  her  in  the  midst  of  her  warriors. 

And  she  was  so  absorbed  she  scarcely  seemed  to  see  him  at  all,  for 
she  was  binding  up  their  wounds  and  giving  them  their  good  brew  and 
cakes  of  unleavened  bread  to  keep  them  in  good  condition  as  usual. 

It  was  no  wonder  he  gave  a  start.  Instead  of  a  fairylike  queen  with 
a  shower  of  golden  rain  falling  about  her,  and  in  spangled  net  and  silk, 
or  even  wound  up  in  a  black  cloak  enclosing  all  that  inner  radiance,  what 
did  he  see?  There  before  his  eyes  was  a  stern  young  queen  in  a  severe 
costume  of  dark  material  undoubtedly  made  of  wool,  with  a  little  jacket 
of  black  velvet  edged  with  silver  (for  she  always  had  a  leaning  to  bright 
ness  in  the  working  of  her  mind).  There  was  a  gay  striped  apron  tied 
about  her  waist,  and  on  her  head  was  a  stiff  little  cap  of  red  with  a  point 
at  the  top  and  two  sides  like  wings  turned  up,  lined  with  black — some 
thing  like  a  picturesque  sunbonnet.  At  any  rate  it  kept  the  sun  from 
shining  on  her  head  and  eyes  and  yet  did  not  interfere  with  her  hearing, 
which  is  the  only  thing  against  that  ancient  head-gear.  Down  her  back 
hung  two  great  braids  of  that  gorgeous  golden  hair  which  the  world  has 
not  ceased  to  rave  over  ever  since. 

How  Avenant  longed  to  join  the  warriors  and  enjoy  a  cup  of  that 

*"Be    sure    you're    right    then    go    ahead,"    was    also    a    saying    used    by    Davy    Crockett,    a 
descendant    of    this    race. 


FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN  41 

good  brew  which  she  had  stirred  with  her  dagger,  and  which  she  knew 
so  well  how  to  give  forth  at  the  right  moment!  But  he  knew  his  duty 
to  Prince  Ar-Ya  and  resolved  to  be  faithful  to  his  trust.  The  Queen  of 
the  Bright  Ones  was  to  be  taken  safely  to  his  lord  and  master,  and  he 
needed  all  his  senses  to  get  that  caravan  across  the  desert. 

So  he  merely  bowed  to  her  politely,  asked  after  her  health  and  ex 
cused  himself  when  she  asked  him  to  join  her  warriors  and  went  on  to 
see  if  his  oxen  were  all  right.  He  looked  back  once,  pretending  he  was 
reckoning  the  time  of  day,  from  the  place  the  sun  was  shining  in  the 
heavens  (for  they  had  no  clocks  nor  watches  in  those  days)  and  he  saw 
her  with  her  dove  on  her  shoulder  and  the  lambkin  following  her,  and  he 
saw  that  she  was  reckoning  the  time,  too,  with  her  hand  held  to  shade 
her  eyes  as  she  gazed  upward. 

So  he  turned  and  went  his  way. 

On  the  next  day,  all  was  propitious  for  the  journey.  Avenant  had 
over  sixty  men  and  boys,  and  Una  had  now  thirty-seven  warriors.  They 
got  an  early  start  before  the  sun  had  appeared  and  there  were  only  rosy 
tintings  in  the  East  to  illumine  the  way  as  the  word  was  given,  and  the 
warriors  began  the  chant  for  the  forward  march.  It  was  a  seven-days' 
journey  to  the  land  of  Ar-Ya  up  in  the  highlands  on  the  other  side  of 
the  desert,  that  was  now  before  them,  and  the  Bright  Ones  were  very 
joyous  to  be  once  more  marching  to  the  West. 

So  they  chanted  their  splendid  old  songs  of  days  past,  as  they  went, 
and  even  the  animals  lowed  with  pleasure  to  the  cadence  of  their  measures. 

For  four  days  all  went  well.  And  then  Avenant  began  to  look 
worried.  He  saw  signs  of  a  simoom  approaching.  He  ordered  all  the 
caravan  to  come  to  a  stop  and  to  gather  together  in  a  bunch  with  Una's 
chariot  in  the  center.  Then  the  men  worked  mightily  throwing  up  a 
breast-work  of  sand  on  the  side  where  the  terrible  sand-storm  was  sweep 
ing  toward  them  like  an  angry  monster  of  black  edged  with  red,  blotting 
out  the  sun,  breathing  forth  sinister  sounds  as  on  it  hurled  itself  upon  all 
in  its  path. 

They  were  none  too  soon  in  their  work.  For  with  a  fierce  roar  as 
of  a  mighty  beast  of  the  air,  it  passed  overhead,  burying  them  in  the  sand 
and  nearly  beating  the  life  out  of  them.  When  it  was  over  it  was  found 
that  some  of  the  animals  and  some  of  the  men  had  perished,  among  the 
latter  several  of  Una's  warriors  who  would  march  no  more  to  their  be 
loved  West,  and  she  leaned  over  them  and  chafed  their  hands  and  piit 
water  to  their  white  lips  and  tried  to  call  them  back  to  life — all  in  vain. 

Then  it  was  that  the  remaining  Bright  Ones  gathered  around  her 
and  knelt  down  and  begged  her  not  to  grieve  for  those  who  were  lost, 
but  to  live  for  them  until  they  had  taken  her  safely  to  Prince  Ar-Ya. 

But  she  sat  there  pale  and  weeping  over  her  dead.  For  this  is  the 
part  of  womanhood — she  must  meet  sorrow  as  well  as  joy  in  her  course 
from  day  to  day.  And  those  who  have  glass-hearts  must  break,  but  they 
of  sterner  material  endure  and  endure  and  give  forth  strength  to  others. 

At  last  Moondy,  the  chief  of  them  all,  ventured  to  address  her  in 
a  new  way.  "One  Mother  of  the  warriors,"  said  he,  solemnly,  "watch 
over  us  who  are  yet  alive,  for  if  you  should  die,  we  all  shall  perish 
from  off  the  earth  and  then  what  will  become  of  our  race,  which  has 
taken  thousands  of  years  longer  to  evolve  than  any  other?" 


42  FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN 

Una  closed  her  cerulean  eyes  a  second,  then  she  steadied  herself. 
"You  are  right,  Moondy!  Bury  them  while  I  sing  their  death-chant." 
And  it  was  done.  But  from  that  moment  they  called  her  our  "Una 
Materna." 

The  next  day  came  another  trouble.  The  chief  of  the  Ar-Yan 
caravan  became  jealous  of  the  position  that  Moondy  held  with  Avenant. 
He  did  everything  he  could  to  annoy  him.  And  at  last  he  struck  him  a 
foul  blow.  Nobody  could  expect  Moondy  to  submit  to  a  thing  like  that 
of  course,  and  in  a  few  moments  the  Ar-Yan  lay  dead  at  his  feet. 

Avenant  acted  as  the  judge.  He  called  them  all  together  and  bade 
them  look  upon  the  terrible  consequences  of  White  fighting  White  when 
they  all  were  needed  to  help  each  other  instead.  He  warned  them  against 
jealousy  and  envy  and  covetousness  and  assured  them  that  destruction 
would  be  their  share  unless  they  could  learn  to  unite  for  the  common 
good.  He  told  them  that  the  Blacks,  the  Browns  and  the  Yellows  were 
leagued  against  their  survival  and  that  the  Whites  would  be  wiped  out 
if  they  did  not  stand  together. 

He  declared  that  both  his  chief  and  the  chief  of  Una's  warriors  were 
to  blame;  that  now  one  lay  dead,  and  to  do  absolute  justice  he  would 
have  to  banish  Moondy  from  the  caravan,  and  if  any  others  followed  their 
example  they  also  would  be  driven  out  from  amongst  them — that 
he  would  not  permit  any  more  fighting,  as  they  needed  their  full  strength 
in  order  to  cross  the  desert  in  safety,  and  the  next  one  to  start  a  quarrel 
would  be  banished  even  as  he  had  now  to  banish  Moondy. 

Silence  reigned  as  the  warrior  took  his  leave  of  Una  Materna  and 
his  fellow  Bright  Ones,  and  strode  forth  from  among  them  out  into  the 
desert  alone.* 

For  now  there  were  only  thirty-three  of  them  remaining,  and  only 
fifty-four  men  and  boys  of  the  Ar-Yans.  No  more  did  the  splendid  chant 
of  the  Bright  Ones  go  up  in  measured  cadence  as  they  went  on  their 
way.  A  strange  silence  was  upon  them  all. 

*The    same    thing   happened    when    the    Donner    Party    crossed    the    plains    of    the    American 
continent   in    1846,   and   one   of   the   leaders   was   banished   from   the   wagon-train    in    consequence. 


CHAPTER  X. 

AT  THE  WELL  IN  THE  DESERT. 

Two  days  later  the  water  gave  out  and  they  stopped  to  find  a  well 
which  they  would  have  reached  the  day  before  if  they  had  not  had  so 
many  delays.  Avenant  hurried  on  and  at  last  he  found  it.  Leaving  sev 
eral  of  the  boys  there  to  guard  the  place  while  he  returned  to  guide  the 
caravan  thither,  he  noticed  signs  of  camels  and  another  procession  of  men 
on  the  far  horizon,  doubtless  seeking  the  same  safe  refuge. 

He  reached  the  head  of  his  own  caravan  and  hurried  them  to  the 
precious  spot.  Hardly  had  they  gained  it  and  refreshed  man  and  beast 
when  the  leader  of  the  other  band  appeared. 

This  being  was  evidently  the  chief  of  a  wild  tribe.  He  was  ferocious 
of  aspect.  His  face  was  yellow.  Wiry  hair  was  on  his  head  and  his  face. 
His  cheek  bones  were  like  knots  in  a  rope,  and  his  small  eyes  were  set  in 
his  skull  on  a  slant.  His  nose  was  short  and  flat  with  large  nostrils. 
Insolently  he  demanded  that  Avenant  should  yield  to  him  in  the  name 
of  his  master  the  Great  Emperor.  To  gain  time,  Avenant  asked  what 
was  the  name  of  his  master.  Meanwhile  he  had  whistled  his  call  of 
warning,  and  the  warriors  had  surrounded  Una  Materna,  for  they  all 
had  an  understanding  in  case  of  attack,  that  they  would  preserve  her 
until  the  last  man  died  fighting. 

Behind  the  leader  came  his  awful  horde,  but  they  were  received  with 
sharp  spears  and  heavy  clubs  and  sling-shots  which  took  them  somewhat 
by  surprise.  They  were  wily  however  and  divided  into  three  parts  and 
attacked  the  Ar-Yans  on  three  sides  at  once.  It  became  a  hand-to-hand 
conflict.  The  horde  carried  sharp  stone-knives,  and  soon  had  cut  down 
the  Ar-Yans  before  they  could  flail  them  with  their  clubs.  They  out 
numbered  them  three  to  one  so  it  looked  as  if  the  terrible  Tartarians 
were  going  to  destroy  them  forever. 

But  there  came  the  cry  as  of  a  bird  above  the  din.  And  before  any 
one  could  prevent  her,  as  if  in  answer  to  that  bird-call  came  Una  Materna 
forth,  with  that  shower  of  golden  rain  falling  about  her  in  all  its  glory 
as  she  stepped  out  into  the  midst  of  the  fighting. 

"Strike  me,"  she  cried,  "and  let  me  die  gloriously  for  my  tribe.  For 
why  should  they  perish  to  save  me?" 

At  the  sight  of  this  magnificent  being,  like  an  angel  in  their  midst 
and  so  unlike  themselves,  the  slant-eyed  creatures  fell  back  and  ceased 
to  give  battle.  In  the  lull  that  followed  so  miraculously,  she  cried  out  to 
draw  attention  to  the  coming  of  another  caravan — for  she  had  recog 
nized  the  well-known  bird-note  that  had  come  from  afar,  for  a  true 
woman  has  an  inner  hearing  and  an  inner  sight  that  no  man  has.  And 
so  in  a  second  she  had  bounded  away  like  a  fawn  and  was  running  in  a 
swift  race  toward  this  new  advancing  host,  while  both  sides  looked  on 
stupidly. 

The  Tartarians  were  now  being  attacked  afresh  by  the  Ar-Yans,  for 
since  they  no  longer  had  to  preserve  Una  Materna,  they  fell  upon  their 
enemy  with  ferocity  such  as  the  White  Man  can  give  way  to,  when 
times  like  these  arise. 


44  FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN 

When  the  new  caravan  arrived  which  it  did  in  haste,  the  foes 
found  themselves  surrounded  by  Whites  on  all  sides  and  were  ruthlessly 
slain  till  only  a  few  managed  to  get  away  and  escape  from  the  carnage. 

At  the  head  of  the  new  caravan  stood  Moondy,  the  Chief  of  the 
Bright  Ones.*  He  had  met  them  coming  from  the  land  of  Ar-Ya  to  dis 
cover  why  Avenant  had  been  so  delayed,  and  had  led  them  to  the  well 
in  the  desert  knowing  that  it  was  there  they  should  camp  on  their  onward 
journey,  their  supply  of  water  having  been  exhausted  because  of  the  sand 
storm.  But  for  this  information  the  Ar-Yan  Whites  would  not  have 
arrived  in  time  to  save  them  from  the  Tartarians,  and  thus  the  most 
precious  of  the  White  Race  would  have  been  slain  and  all  history 
changed  in  consequence. 

Avenant  put  his  finger  to  his  lips  on  meeting  the  band  of  Prince 
Ar-Ya  who  had  come  to  his  relief.  ''Brothers/'  he  said  addressing  them 
sternly,  "we  have  paid  dearly.  It  is  no  time  for  rejoicing." 

But  after  they  had  counted  the  dead  and  the  living  and  had  found 
how  dearly  the  enemy  had  paid  also,  then  Avenant  remarked  briefly : 
"When  Ar-Yan  joins  Ar-Yan  then  comes  the  tug  of  war." 

Not  more  than  twenty-five  of  his  men  and  boys  were  alive,  and  of 
those  splendid  old  warriors  with  their  golden  circlets  on  their  brows, 
all  were  lying  cold  in  death  but  seven.  With  Moondy  at  the  head  of 
them  they  answered  to  the  roll-call  with  the  tears  silently  rolling  down 
their  cheeks  and  on  to  their  beards,  and  still  keeping  Una  Materna  in 
their  midst,  as  if  with  her  there,  in  spite  of  everything  yet  that  they  were 
still  triumphant. 

The  new  Ar-Yans  had  only  wounded  men  to  care  for,  and  already 
Moondy  had  become  their  chief,  so  by  this  terrible  devastation  and  sac 
rifice  of  men,  of  both  sides  together,  all  were  united  so  to  remain  to  the 
end  of  the  chapter.  What  a  pity  the  chapter  could  not  be  the  story  of 
the  whole  book !  What  a  sorrowful  thing  that  the  ancient  city  of  Jalassa 
should  have  sent  forth  its  miserable  spirit  to  poison  the  founts  of  being 
from  that  early  period  of  the  history  of  man  up  to  the  present  time ! 

All  that  is  left  to  us  is  to  wear  a  charm  of  some  kind  to  keep  each 
fellow  of  us  immune  to  these  germs  of  hatefulness  which  nearly  destroy 
a  beautiful  world. 


*In  the  same  way  the  banished  leader  returned  to  the  relief  of  the  Donner  Party  months 
after,  when  misfortune  befell  them  to  such  an  extent  that  the  entire  train  was  caught  in 
the  snow  in  the  high  Sierras  and  many  starved  and  froze  to  death  on  one  side  of  the 
mountains  while  it  was  a  smiling  green  country  on  the  other  side.  This  leader  helped 
many  to  escape.  So  we  see  that  history  repeats  itself,  even  thousands  of  years  apart  in 
tke  descendants  of  the  Ar-Yans. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE    NOBLE    SEVEN. 

Seriously  and  solemnly  the  new  caravan  took  up  its  march  a  few 
days  later,  and  Moondy  and  his  six  warriors  raised  their  voices  in  a 
chant  of  sorrow  for  their  lost  comrades  as  on  they  went.  They  were 
splendid  stalwart  men  still,  with  their  bronze  beards  and  heads  showing 
now  a  touch  of  frost  under  the  golden  circlet  about  their  brows. 

There  has  been  much  discussion  about  the  names  of  the  "Noble 
Seven"  as  they  were  now  called,  but  as  nearly  as  can  be  discovered  by 
study  of  ancient  lore,  they  answered  to  these  titles :  Moondy,  the  chief 
warrior  whom  we  already  know,  and  the  others  were  Toody,  Wody, 
Tordy,  Freedy,  Tattady  and  Tundy. 

In  after  years  people  worshiped  them  as  gods  and  finally  named  the 
days  of  the  week  after  them  out  of  gratitude  for  their  noble  services  to 
mankind.  That  is  why  we  still  spell  Wednesday  with  a  "d."  Moondy 
wore  a  small  crescent  of  a  moon  on  the  golden  circlet  on  his  brow, 
Toody  had  lost  a  hand  as  a  result  of  his  tremendous  fighting  so  they  put 
a  five-pointed  star  on  his  band  to  stand  for  it.  Wody  had  a  raven  for 
his  sign,  Tordy  had  such  a  mighty  blow  to  give  with  his  fist  that  they 
called  him  "The  Hammerer,"  and  so  he  wore  a  golden  mallet  on  the 
front  of  his  crest.  Freedy  was  a  great  one  for  helping  Una  Materna  with 
her  leaven  and  her  spinning.  So  he  chose  a  bunch  of  wheat  to  wear  on 
his  circlet,  and  carried  a  spindle  in  his  hand,  for  he  was  a  great  helper 
in  the  needful  things  of  everyday  life  as  well  as  being  a  fighter  when 
necessary.  Tattady  took  charge  of  things  to  see  that  they  were  safe, 
so  he  decided  on  having  a  key  for  his  symbol.  Tundy  saw  to  it  that 
everybody  came  to  order  once  a  week  and  minded  his  "p's"  and  "q's," 
and  did  differently  on  that  day  from  any  other,  and  to  give  him  to  un 
derstand  that  this  was  a  very  important  matter  he  selected  the  most 
powerful  thing  in  the  world,  or  known  to  the  world,  as  his  emblem.  And 
that  was  a  semblance  of  the  sun  itself  with  shining  rays  extending  from 
the  edges.  It  kept  him  busy  polishing  and  brightening  this  disc  of  gold 
so  that  no  one  should  forget  that  particular  day  of  days,  but  this  was 
afterwards  when  they  all  had  settled  down  in  the  land  of  Ar-Ya.  But 
there  is  so  much  to  tell  of  other  things  later  on,  that  this  has  to  be  told 
here,  right  in  this  place. 

On  they  went  wearily  with  all  their  sorrows,  such  as  most  of  us 
have  to  bear  on  our  life's  journey.  But  one  great  joy  of  expectancy  was 
still  theirs,  such  as  most  of  us  have,  too,  to  lead  us  on  from  day  to  day. 
And  that  was  the  moment  when  Una  Materna  was  to  meet  with  Prince 
Ar-Ya  in  the  land  of  the  Ar-Yans. 

Would  he  find  her  less  beautiful  than  he  had  pictured  her  or  more  so  ? 

Would  she  see  in  him  that  noble  portraiture  of  a  man  of  which  she 
had  so  fondly  dreamed?  even  sterner  than  Avenant  to  the  foe?  even 
gentler  than  Avenant  to  herself?  Can  we  not  all  remember  some  one 
man  who  has  been  to  us  as  much  a  measure  of  a  man  as  this?  I  know 
that  I  can.  If  I  had  not  I  could  not  have  told  this  story. 

So  as  they  neared  the  edge  of  the  desert,  the  Seven  Bright  Ones 


A(>  FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN 

raised  their  voices  in  chants  more  joyous  in  preparation  for  the  meeting 
of  the  bride  and  bridegroom  of  the  White  Race.  But  every  once  in  a 
while  there  would  creep  in  a  weird  minor  strain  with  words  of  warning 
against  the  terrible  Something  that  dwelt  away  back  there  Somewhere  in 
the  land  of  Sunrise  from  which  they  had  escaped  with  their  little  queen 
long  years  before — the  remnant  of  a  once  powerful  tribe. 

Now,  however,  they  prophesied  that  a  new  tribe  should  arise  from 
the  union  of  these  two  which  should  dominate  the  lands  of  the  Glorious 
West.  It  was  always  the  West,  the  land  of  Sunset,  with  those  warriors 
that  they  sang  of,  and  dreamed  of  and  longed  for. 

The  day  came  when  they  left  the  desert  and  began  the  ascent  to  that 
tableland  where  dwelt  the  Ar-Yans.  Avenant  was  summoned  by  the 
Prince,  and  so  left  them  the  night  before  they  were  to  arrive.  He  took 
leave  of  Una  Materna  with  few  words  but  seemed  depressed  as  he  turned 
to  go. 

"Wait,"  she  called  after  him.  "I  have  a  question  to  ask  before  we 
part.  How  did  you  know  what  caravan  to  follow  from  the  city  of 
Jalassa  to  find  me? — or  do  you  prefer  not  to  tell?" 

He  came  back  at  once.  "Not  at  all,"  he  responded,  "it  was  very 
simple.  I  followed  where  I  heard  the  cooing  of  the  dove  and  the  bleat 
ing  of  the  lambkin." 

"Very  simple  indeed,"  she  murmured. 

He  stood  still.    "And  now  may  I  ask  you  a  question  before  we  part?" 

"Certainly,"  she  replied  with  a  touch  of  wonderment  in  her  voice. 

"Why  did  you  tell  the  people  of  Jalassa  I  was  false  to  my  trust?" 

"I  did  it,"  she  said,  holding  her  head  proudly,  "to  punish  you  for 
not  speaking  up  when  Mooncly  told  me  you  had  gone  off  with  your  own 
caravan  instead  of  seeking  for  me  to  take  me  safely  to  my  promised  lord 
and  master,  Prince  Ar-Ya." 

"But  why  did  Moondy  say  that?"  queried  Avenant. 

"Because  he  was  hungry,"  she  said,  "and  he  wanted  something  to 
eat  first  and  he  guessed  if  I  were  angry  I  would  work  the  quicker." 

"Ah,"  spoke  Avenant,  thoughtfully,  "and  were  you  angry?" 

"Did  you  not  see  how  quickly  they  were  served?  And  did  you  not 
get  your  own  cup  of  brew  very  soon  ?" 

"I  did,"  he  replied. 

"But  why  did  you  not  speak  up  then?"  she  asked  him  with  a  flash 
of  lightning  from  her  eyes  as  blue  as  the  flax-flower. 

"Because — I  did  not  understand  women's  ways,  and  when  you  went 
off  on  that  camel  with  the  ten  boys  as  escorts  without  letting  us  know— 
T  felt  myself  too  stupid  and  dunderheaded  to  know  what  to  do.  And 
so  when  Moondy  said  that — I  thought  he  knew  you  better  than  I  did — 
and  so  kept  silence." 

"Oh,"  she  said  softly,  like  the  coo  of  her  own  dove. 

"But  you  did  know,"  he  spoke  in  a  low  voice. 

"Yes,  I  knew  all  the  time." 

"How  did  you  know  ?" 

"While  I  was  sitting  in  the  tent  with  my  dagger  held  to  my  heart 
ready  in  case  the  Black  Prince  should  dare  to  speak  to  me — T  heard  a 
little  bird  and  it  said  these  words,  Tear  not,  O  Queen,  Avenant  is  here.' ' 

He  turned  as  if  about  to  leave  her,  and  then  came  back  once  more: 


FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN  47 

"Another  word,  please ;  would  you  mind  explaining  to  me  why  you  left 
your  gifts  in  the  city  of  Jalassa?  and  why  you  sent  back  your  camel  and 
slave-boys  to  the  Prince  of  the  Black  Kingdom?" 

"That  is  easy  to  answer,"  she  said,  brightly,  "the  jewels  and  gifts  of 
other  nations  are  something  to  beware  of  in  that  they  arouse  envy  and 
covetousness  and  jealousy  and  bring  misery  with  them  to  that  nation 
which  receives  them.  My  nurse  has  told  me  so.  And  as  to  the  slave- 
boys,  I  knew  if  I  took  them  with  me,  more  would  follow,  and  ere  long 
the  Ar-Yans  would  become  a  mixed  race  for  the  common  stock  would 
absorb  them.  And  I  wanted  my  land  to  be  a  White  Land." 

"It  is  well,"  murmured  Avenant  half  absently,  then  he  added,  "that 
you  are  to  be  our  queen." 

Una  Materna  then  stood  her  queenliest.  "Now  take  my  respects  to 
the  Prince  and  speak  to  him  kindly  of  me  that  I  may  win  his  royal  favor 
as  he  has  won  mine,  by  sending  such  a  loyal  subject  as  yourself  to  stand 
for  him  and  speak  for  him  and  fetch  me  to  him  so  safely." 

Avenant  stooped  his  head  and  kissed  courteously  the  hand  she  ex 
tended  to  him  in  farewell. 

Resolutely  she  turned  and  went  into  her  chariot-tent.  But  when 
her  warriors  went  to  her  to  receive  their  instructions  for  the  morrow 
as  was  their  habit  all  those  years,  for  the  first  time  they  found  her  un 
able  to  plan  with  them. 

"Come  away,"  spoke  Moondy,  the  chief,  to  the  other  six.  "Una 
Materna  has  been  weeping,  and  it  is  natural  that  she  should  do  so.  To 
night  her  old  life  comes  to  an  end,  and  tomorrow  begins  her  new  one.  I 
hope  this  Prince  Ar-Ya  is  going  to  be  worthy  of  our  young  queen." 

"Well,"  exclaimed  Toody,  "if  he  isn't  we'll  take  her  away  from  him 
—that's  all !" 

How  the  poor  old  fellows  loved  her  can  never  be  told! 

The  brows  of  them  drew  down  and  a  sinister  look  came  over  their 
faces  at  the  very  thought  of  such  a  thing.  They  had  not  fought  and 
battled  for  their  lovely  young  queen  all  their  lives  to  stand  by  and  be 
dumb  when  danger  threatened  from  a  new  source  never  suspected  before. 

"But  I'll  hammer  him  to  a  blue  jelly  first,"  spoke  Tordy  moodily. 

"And  I'll  carry  him  off  in  the  darkness  and  lose  him  in  a  forest  of 
wild  animals,"  roared  Wody. 

"And  I'll  send  a  great  wind  .to  blow  him  over  a  great  cliff  where 
a  thousand  thorns  shall  pierce  him,"  broke  forth  Freedy. 

"And  I'll  flail  him  till  he  is  dead  and  burn  him  to  ashes,"  exclaimed 
Tattady. 

"And  I'll  take  his  ashes  and  feed  them  to  fishes,"  whispered  Tundy. 

Would  that  every  young  queen  about  to  wed  her  Prince  had  a  band 
of  "Noble  Seven"  like  these  to  guard  her  from  harm,  even  from  the  one 
whom  she  has  journeyed  so  far  to  meet,  should  he  prove  unworthy. 

They  thought  it  only  natural  that  she  should  be  weeping  on  this 
night,  the  last  of  her  old  life,  in  view  of  the  morrow  beginning  her  new 
life  in  her  new  kingdom. 

O  Fair  One  with  the  Golden  Locks,  so  pure  and  beautiful,  what  fate 
is  waiting  thee? 

Thou  hast  been  good  and  dutiful.     Now  what  is  Fate's  decree? 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE    MEETING   OF  THE   BRIDE   AND   BRIDEGROOM. 

There  was  a  great  stirring  and  excitement  going  on  in  the  kingdom 
of  Ar-Ya,  for  on  this  wonderful  day  of  days,  the  bride  of  the  Prince  was 
to  arrive  in  the  caravan  which  had  been  sent  across  the  great  desert  to 
the  south-east,  to  the  wonderful  city  there,  for  the  express  purpose  of 
winning  her  from  the  other  kings  and  princes  and  fetching  her  to  dwell 
with  them  as  queen  of  the  land. 

Now  while  they  lived  by  their  flocks  and  agriculture,  yet  the  old 
king  had  been  a  hard  master  for  many  years  and  had  ruled  them  all 
so  harshly  that  his  older  sons  had  been  glad  to  escape  and  go  forth  to 
conquer  the  great  world  beyond  in  order  to  get  away  from  his  iron  will. 
Then,  too,  as  he  had  gotten  older  and  more  self-willed  like  a  pampered 
child,  he  had  made  favorites  of  some  who  were  utterly  unworthy,  only 
they  flattered  him  all  the  time,  and  to  these  he  gave  much,  while  taking 
away  from  others  who  tried  to  do  what  was  good  for  the  kingdom.  So 
while  some  of  the  people  had  much  comfort  and  ease,  others  were  hungry 
and  discontented  and  worn  out  with  arduous  toil. 

Fortunately,  however,  the  old  king  was  now  dead  and  buried,  and 
his  youngest  son,  Ar-Ya  who  had  remained  faithful  to  his  father,  was 
ruler  of  the  land  and  everybody  w?as  eagerly  looking  for  the  first 
sight  of  the  bride  to  see  whether  she  was  going  to  give  her  influence  to 
the  old  favorites  of  the  dead  king,  or  whether  she  was  going  to  choose 
new  favorites  for  the  new  court. 

And  the  Hungry  Ones  were  hoping  she  would  do  something  for  them 
— they  did  not  know  exactly  what,  for  it  had  always  been  like  that  from 
one  king  to  another,  and  they  were  used  to  it. 

Among  them  there  was  a  poor  giant,  a  mere  boy  in  years,  who  was 
always  hungry  and  he  hoped  she  would  throw  him  an  apple  or  a  plum 
some  day,  so  he  walked  along  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets,  very  awk 
ward  and  embarrassed,  while  everybody  was  poking  fun  at  him  as  usual. 
But  it  so  happened  that  because  of  his  great  height  he  could  see  over  the 
heads  of  those  below  and  thus  he  was  the  first  to  perceive  the  dust  of  the 
approaching  caravan.  So  everybody  was  calling  up  to  him  to  know  how 
near  she  was  by  now,  and  as  it  was  about  the  only  time  in  his  life  he  had 
been  made  to  feel  that  he  was  of  any  importance  whatever,  this  gave 
him  a  little  pleasure,  so  he  felt  kindly  to  the  new  queen  already,  even 
before  he  saw  her. 

But  there  were  Jalassas  there  also,  women  who  were  full  of  hate- 
fulness,  and  determined  to  ruin  the  new  queen  should  she  not  choose 
them  to  be  the  favorites  as  they  had  been  under  the  rule  of  the  late  king. 
For  since  the  new  king  had  taken  his  father's  place  he  had  not  so  much 
as  looked  at  them.  So  they  were  determined  to  astonish  her  with  their 
grandeur  and  bend  her  will  to  theirs  in  order  to  run  things  generally  as 
they  had  been  doing  before.  Now  it  was  not  because  they  had  any  wise 
plans  to  carry  out,  or  an  intention  to  benefit  anybody.  It  was  simply 
because  in  their  hearts  was  hatefulness  and  they  wanted  to  vent  their 
spite  on  everyone. 


FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN  49 

In  order  that  they  should  make  a  great  impression  on  the  new  queen 
and  on  everybody,  they  had  arrayed  themselves  in  costumes,  each  more 
absurd  than  the  other,  well  calculated  to  make  them  look  important.  Some 
had  long  peaks  on  top  of  their  heads,  some  wore  horns  and  tails.  Their 
one  idea  seemed  to  be  to  look  as  unnatural  and  peculiar  as  possible. 
Some  had  strange  stuffs  from  foreign  lands  wrapped  about  them  as  tightly 
as  if  they  had  been  sticks,  which  they  wore  proudly.  There  were  a  few 
who  had  on  so  many  clothes  they  looked  like  stuffed  sausages,  others 
wore  breadths  so  tightly  strapped  around  them  they  seemed  like  flat 
shapes  cut  out  of  boards. 

But  the  most  of  the  inhabitants  were  shepherds  and  milkmaids  and 
plowmen  and  workers  and  their  children,  wearing  make-shifts  of  cos 
tumes,  sheep-skin  coats,  sleeveless,  with  leather  aprons  and  knee-garments 
for  the  men,  and  little  homemade  jackets  and  skirts  for  the  women,  and 
odds  and  ends  on  the  children  and  all  of  them  were  walking  along  bare 
footed  or  else  with  crude  sandals.  The  only  festive  thing  about  them 
was  that  they  carried  green  boughs  in  their  hands,  and  the  women 
wore  wreaths  on  their  heads  in  honor  of  the  occasion. 

How  anxious  they  were  to  behold  the  new  queen  and  judge  for 
themselves  whether  she  might  be  likely  to  make  life  a  little  less  hard  for 
them  out  of  the  plenitude  of  her  own  riches !  but  it  had  always  been  that 
way,  and  doubtless  so  would  continue  to  the  end  of  things  earthly.  Just 
to  have  a  holiday  like  this  and  the  promise  of  a  treat  afterwards  to  a 
little  cake  and  mead  was  enough  to  please  some  of  them,  who  were  so 
tired  and  so  hungry  that  they  had  no  thinkability  left  in  them. 

It  was  rather  a  poor  kingdom  at  best.  Their  temple  was  built  be 
neath  and  around  a  spreading  oak-tree,  and  here  the  king  would  arrive 
to  meet  the  approaching  caravan  of  the  Fair  One  with  Golden  Locks  as 
she  was  called,  so  they  gathered  here  from  the  early  morning  hours  to 
be  on  hand  in  time  to  behold  the  meeting  of  the  young  Queen  of  the 
Bright  Ones  (which  was  her  other  title)  and  their  own  king,  Ar-Ya. 

Slowly  the  caravan  approached.  The  awkward  young  giant  gave 
the  word  that  he  could  see  them  coming,  and  the  small  boys  up  on  high 
like  so  much  strange  fruitage  in  the  trees  nearly  fell  down  in  their  ex 
citement.* 

A  number  of  the  first  vehicles  passed,  and  then  appeared  the  white 
oxen  with  garlands  on  their  horns,  drawing  the  chariot  in  which  was 
Una  Materna  with  her  nurse  still  knitting  away  unceasingly,  she  with 
her  golden  locks  falling  about  her,  and  graciously  bowing  to  all  those 
poor  shepherds  and  milkmaids  and  children,  and  even  lifting  her  eyes 
and  giving  a  sweet  smile  to  the  poor  awkward  young  giant  who  felt  that 
he  could  always  love  her  forever  after,  whether  she  threw  him  a  plum 
or  an  apple  or  not.  He  held  his  head  higher  for  he  knew  now  he  was 
her  faithful  subject. 

At  last  the  procession  of  the  king  came  swiftly  down  the  way  and 

*The  same  thing  happened  to  the  descendants  of  the  Ar-Yans,  thousands  of  years  later, 
when  the  mighty  funeral  cortege  of  a  great  White  queen,  followed  by  generals,  potentates, 
princes,  kings  and  emperors  passed  through  the  teeming  streets  of  London,  in  1901.  All 
along  the  way  where  were  lofty  trees,  the  branches  were  hung  thickly  with  lads,  youths 
and  striplings  of  the  poor,  where  they  looked  like  a  strange  fruitage  to  the  beholder  from 
the  ground  below.  And  so  great  was  their  weight  that  boughs  broke  and  crashed  down 
with  this  living  fruit  on  that  day,  and  ambulances  were  summoned  to  carry  away  the 
injured.  It  was  a  strange  sight  never  to  be  forgotten.  Hut  the  young  of  this  descent  will 
ever  long  to  behold  the  passing  of  their  queens,  whether  in  bridal  or  in  funeral  processions. 


50  FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN 

gave  her  greeting,  and  he  himself  clad  in  a  white  wool  cloak  stepped 
forward  to  the  chariot  and  gave  her  his  hand,  and  she  alighted  with  her 
eyes  cast  downwards  toward  the  ground,  never  giving  him  so  much  as 
one  glance. 

"How  pale  she  is !"  exclaimed  one  of  the  Jalassas,  "and  pretending 
to  be  so  modest  and  abashed  when  everybody  knows  she  came  all  the 
way  to  get  him !" 

"I  don't  see  anything  so  pretty  about  her,''  spoke  another,  "she  really 
has  quite  a  large  waist.  But  mine  is  like  a  wasp's  waist." 

"Yes,  and  her  nose  is  too  short,"  spoke  a  third.  "Mine  is  much 
longer." 

If  some  one  could  have  stuck  a  bodkin  into  all  of  them  at  that 
moment  it  might  have  stopped  their  malice,  but  we  shall  see! 

As  the  young  Queen  of  the  Bright  Ones  stepped  forward  to  the 
temple,  surrounded  by  her  best  men,  who  were  of  course  her  warriors, 
she  faltered,  and  Moondy  placed  her  hand  on  his  arm  to  steady  her. 

Into  the  temple  they  went  under  the  boughs  of  the  great  spreading 
oak,  and  the  sacred  words  were  spoken  which  made  them  husband  and 
wife.  Then  they  returned  and  stood  together  for  all  the  people  to  pass  by 
and  give  them  their  good  wishes. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  TRANCE-SLUMBER  OF  UNA   MATERNA. 

One  glance  at  last  Una  Materna  gave  to  the  face  of  the  king.  She 
saw  that  he  was  tall  and  slender  and  that  his  eyes  were  blue.  She  noted 
his  smooth-shaven  cheeks  and  strongly  marked  features  and  averted 
glance.  She  thought  him  very  stern.  Her  heart  grew  heavy.  Then  she 
began  to  look  among  those  gathered  about  to  behold  once  more  that 
faithful  subject  who  had  so  nobly  represented  the  king. 

From  face  to  face  she  glanced  and  seemed  to  be  forlorn  that  he 
should  not  be  there.  It  was  true  that  he,  Avenant,  with  his  full  brown 
beard  and  many  cares  seemed  older  in  appearance  than  the  king,  who 
was  more  like  a  handsome  youth  of  haughty  mien.  But  she  had  grown 
to  know  and  admire  Avenant  for  this  very  manliness  of  his.  All  these 
strangers  seemed  cold  and  harsh  to  her. 

Especially  was  she  made  to  feel  the  displeasure  of  the  ladies  of  the 
court  as  they  gazed  at  her,  all  arrayed  in  their  horns  and  tails.  She  knew 
they  were  finding  fault  with  her.  Why  not?  How  could  they  approve  of 
her  appearance?  For  she  had  on  a  simple  gown  of  white  wool  and  a 
mantle  of  white  linen  while  on  her  head  was  a  little  cap  of  white  lace 
with  turned-up  wings  of  silver,  all  made  so  simple  and  plain  without  any 
horns  or  tails  such  as  they  wore,  and  with  that  wonderful  inner  sense 
of  hearing  of  hers  every  sound  was  brought  to  her  ears  when  they 
ridiculed  the  idea  of  her  having  a  dove  on  her  shoulder  and  a  lambkin 
at  her  knee. 

Then  came  four  of  these  women  with  a  smile  of  superciliousness  as 
they  advanced,  bearing  on  a  cushion  a  four-horned  kind  of  crown  which, 
with  long  speeches  of  hypocrisy,  they  presented  to  her.  They  were 
determined  to  start  the  fashion  of  everyone  dressing  as  they  did,  and  they 
felt  sure  once  they  got  the  new  queen  to  put  it  on  her  head,  that  they 
could  make  her  do  as  they  willed,  for  this  headdress  was  bewitched. 

However,  as  might  be  guessed,  Una  Materna  did  not  know  what  to 
do  with  the  thing  and  so  she  asked  Moondy  to  hold  it  for  her. 

Then  came  the  milkmaids,  four  of  them,  bearing  on  a  lamb's  wool 
cushion  a  crown  of  honeysuckle  and  mignonette.  She  stooped  to  them 
with  her  sweetest  smile  and  took  it  in  both  her  hands  and  lifted  it  and 
placed  it  upon  her  head  over  her  little  cap,  and  it  seemed  most  fitting  as 
an  emblem  of  her  sweet  majesty. 

"Honeysuckle,  choose  her,"  said  a  voice  near  her,  a  voice  she  knew. 

She  turned  in  surprise  and  wonderment  and  looked  for  the  speaker, 
and  the  same  voice  continued,  "Fear  not,  O  Queen,  Avenant  is  here." 

The  king  had  turned  to  her.  There  she  beheld  the  eyes  of  blue,  as 
blue  as  the  myrtle,  fringed  with  the  black  lashes  and  though  without  the 
beard  she  knew  better  than  the  smooth  cheeks  and  firm  chin,  yet  she 
recognized  that  Avenant  stood  there  by  her  side  as  the  King  of  Ar-Ya. 

Now  in  the  veins  of  Una  Materna  there  flowed  not  one  coward  drop. 
She  felt  coming  events  casting  their  shadows  before  and  prepared  for 
them.  But  she  was  so  honest  herself  that  such  a  thing  as  this  was  to 


52  FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN 

her  unbelievable.  She  might  be  able  to  escape  from  caravans  and  face 
the  leader  of  wild  tribes  and  bury  her  dead  and  hold  herself  calmly  when 
parting  with  one  whom  she  admired.  But  she  had  battled  with  herself 
the  night  preceding  during  that  terrible  weeping-spell  that  had  overcome 
her,  to  do  away  with  the  least  bit  of  regard  in  her  heart  which  might 
be  lingering  there  for  Avenant.  She  held  herself  faithful  in  every  drop 
of  heart's  blood,  in  every  beating  of  her  pulse  to  her  Prince  of  the  land 
of  Ar-Ya,  and  she  went  to  him  sincerely  grateful  for  his  confidence  in 
her.  She  had  resolved  that  if  even  he  should  prove  more  stern  than 
she  could  bear,  still  she  would  love  him  and  devote  herself  to  bene 
fiting  the  people.  She  was  angry  at  herself  that  she  had  given  one  glance 
to  see  if  Avenant  were  there.  And  to  think  that  he  had  been  standing 
by  her  side  in  the  disguise  of  this  handsome  youth,  made  her  hate 
him.  How  had  he  dared  to  play  with  her  affection  thus  ?  A  little  shiver 
went  through  her,  the  world  turned  black  as  night,  and  with  a  great  sob 
she  fell  toward  the  earth  in  a  death-swoon. 

But  ever-faithful  Moondy  had  been  aware  of  some  wild  tempest 
going  through  the  heart  of  the  young  queen  and  he  caught  her  and  so 
laid  her  down  gently. 

Then  he  turned  upon  the  king  of  Ar-Ya  and  was  for  giving  him  a 
trouncing  right  then  and  there,  but  he  found  the  king  kneeling  beside 
her  and  chafing  her  hands  and  imploring  her  to  give  him  one  word  of 
forgiveness,  and  hearing  the  well-known  voice  of  their  captain,  then  it 
was  that  Moondy  knew  the  truth.  He  stood  aside  with  his  six  com 
panions  and  they  all  wrung  each  other's  hands  fiercely  in  a  terrible  grip 
as  if  to  say,  "It  is  all  right,  boys !"  and  then  they  turned  away  their  heads 
that  none  might  see  their  emotion. 

Ar-Ya  was  Avenant  and  Avenant  was  Ar-Ya,  and  already  they  loved 
him  and  could  trust  their  young  queen  to  his  care  and  would  not  have 
to  do  any  of  those  terrible  things  to  him  that  they  had  promised  them 
selves  in  case  he  did  not  treat  her  right — for  he  was  one  of  them  also 
to  guard  and  protect  her  until  death.  And  now  they  began  to  guess  why 
Una  Materna  had  spent  that  last  night  weeping,  only  of  course  they  got 
it  all  wrong  for  they  did  not  understand  anything,  as  why  should  men, 
even  the  dearest  and  best  of  them  ,the  delicate  workings  of  a  woman's 
innermost  nature?  Why,  she  hardly  knows  herself,  until  years  after 
wards,  why  she  does  things! 

There  she  lay  at  their  feet  upon  the  cold  ground  and  did  not  regain 
consciousness.  She  lay  there  as  pale  as  death  and  as  silent. 

If  the  frost-spindle  of  winter  had  pierced  her  finger  she  could  not 
be  more  motionless.  If  she  had  tasted  the  poisoned  apple  of  the  wicked 
old  jealous  queen  of  winter  she  could  not  be  more  beautiful  in  her  death- 
trance. 

Like  the  seven  dwarfs  who  watched  by  the  bier  of  Snowflake,  so 
did  the  warriors  stand  guard  over  Una  Materna.  They  placed  their 
spears  together  and  made  a  litter,  and  lifted  her  thereon,  and  marched 
solemnly  toward  the  place  of  habitation  prepared  for  her,  away  from  the 
lumbering  old  king's  hall  of  past  times,  with  Ar-Ya  following  in 
grief  and  despair  and  all  the  people  making  way  for  them  to  pass  through. 

At  last  they  reached  this  tower-house  (it  could  not  be  called  a 
palace)  but  had  been  fitted  up  by  Ar-Ya  for  her  to  have  as  her  own 


FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN  53 

place  with  a  garden  around  it  and  trees  and  herbs  and  all  things  she 
liked. 

She  was  carried  within  and  laid  upon  the  couch  there,  and  given 
remedies,  but  still  she  remained  as  before.  Her  good  nurse  was  appealed 
to  and  she  stopped  her  knitting  and  lost  several  stitches  in  her  web  while 
she  bade  them  let  her  have  her  rest  in  peace,  as  the  journey  had  been  too 
fearsome  for  her  and  she  could  endure  no  more. 

So  she  lay  in  state  as  one  who  has  passed  from  earth  and  her  war 
riors  watched  by  her  bier  faithfully.  As  if  Nature  herself  came  to  the 
rescue  in  an  effort  to  protect  Una  Materna  from  the  noise  and  quarreling 
of  the  outside  world,  there  grew  up  around  that  place  a  giant  hedge  of 
thorns  over  night,  so  that  no  one  could  pass  that  way.  And  there  she 
slept  in  peace. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE   FOUR-HORNED   LADIES. 

Outside,  things  went  on  very  badly.  The  king  was  so  distracted  he 
could  not  pay  proper  attention  to  the  needs  of  his  people,  and  as  most  of 
them  had  no  thinkability  for  themselves,  you  can  imagine  how  slack  and 
neglected  everything  was. 

All  did  I  say?  No,  there  were  four  witches'  daughters  there,  who 
could  think  and  plot  and  plan  more  mischief  over  night  in  the  darkness 
than  two  dozen  strong  men  could  set  straight  in  the  sunlight  of  many 
days.  And  who  were  these  but  the  four  crown-bearers  of  the  four- 
horned  crown  which  Una  Materna  had  not  known  what  to  do  with,  and 
had  handed  to  Moondy  to  hold,  and  of  course  he  had  dropped  it  and 
had  never  thought  of  the  foolish  bauble  again. 

So  there  it  had  lain  in  the  dust,  and  the  young  giant  had  picked 
it  up,  unfortunately,  walking  along  and  wondering  what  to  do  with 
it.  Of  course  it  was  just  his  luck  that  some  one  told  him  to  try  it  on. 
So  very  soon  he  was  making  sport  for  the  shepherds  and  milkmaids. 
And  there  they  were  laughing  and  holding  their  sides  and  having  great 
fun  over  the  performance  while  the  wearer  was  lifting  his  eyebrows  and 
winking  his  eyes  and  going  through  all  sorts  of  pantomime  in  mimicry 
of  those  ladies  of  the  court  who  had  always  snubbed  them  all,  because 
they  did  the  work  of  the  kingdom,  and  it  felt  good  for  once  in  their  lives 
to  see  them  getting  taken  down  for  all  their  airs  and  graces. 

But,  alas !  two  of  the  crown-bearers  passed  by  at  this  very  moment 
and  saw  the  whole  performance.  Like  Jalassa,  they  turned  a  pale  green 
and  then  a  pale  yellow,  and  straightway  ran  to  the  king  to  tell  him  of 
the  shocking  affair  and  demand  that  the  young  giant  be  cast  into  the 
dungeon  for  having  stolen  the  four-horned  crown  of  the  new  queen 
which  they  had  presented  to  her.  They  said  it  was  a  crime  against  the 
government.  At  first  the  king  did  not  hear  them  at  all.  He  was  walking 
up  and  down  in  the  council-hall  of  the  old  king  with  his  arms  clasped 
behind  him,  trying  to  study  out  some  difficult  matters  relating  to  the 
crops,  but  he  would  stop  every  once  in  so  often  to  look  out  the  window 
in  the  direction  of  the  thorn-hedge  to  see  if  any  signal  was  being  dis 
played  yet,  from  the  warriors  telling  that  there  was  any  change  there  for 
the  better. 

He  simply  looked  on  them  as  naughty,  perverse  children  who  were 
a  nuisance  to  themselves  and  everybody  else,  and  told  the  doorkeeper  to 
send  them  home.  At  this  they  began  to  carry  on  dreadfully,  yowling  and 
wailing  and  finally  weeping  with  copious  tears  and  hysterical  screams  so 
that  the  sound  of  it  reached  the  ears  of  the  seven  warriors,  and  one  of 
them  came  to  the  hedge  of  thorn-briers  and  held  up  his  spear  with  a 
white  streamer  fluttering  from  it,  and  the  people  all  ran  and  the  king 
saw  it  and  he  hastened  to  see  if  it  were  a  message  from  his  beloved  Una 
Materna  awakening  from  her  long  trance. 

But  it  was  not.  The  warrior  asked  that  the  awful  noise  be  stopped 
as  it  was  too  much  for  their  nerves. 

So  Avenant,   or   Ar-Ya   rather,   not  knowing  how   else   to   get   the 


FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN  55 

horrid  sounds  to  cease  from  these  four-horned  ladies,  always  four-horned, 
signed  the  decree  condemning  the  young  giant  to  the  gaol.  Now  nobody 
had  been  put  into  this  dungeon  for  a  matter  of  several  hundred  years, 
and  it  was  full  of  spiders  and  thick  with  cobwebs. 

Usually  when  anyone  misbehaved  in  this  kingdom  they  made  him 
work  over  time,  so  this  being  put  into  gaol  was  a  terrible  punishment. 
The  milkmaids  and  the  shepherds  gathered  together  and  marched  in  a 
body  to  the  king  and  begged  and  entreated  that  he  would  not  doom 
the  poor  awkward  young  giant  who  was  hardly  more  than  a  boy 
to  such  an  end  as  that,  merely  for  a  little  harmless  joke  on  the 
four-horned  ladies,  always  four-horned.  "He  had  never  meant  any 
harm  at  all,  at  all,"  they  insisted.  And  if  the  king  persisted  in  put 
ting  him  into  the  dungeon  he  would  have  to  put  them  all  in  there,  too, 
as  they  all  were  as  much  to  blame  as  he  was. 

But  the  four-horned  ladies  never  ceased  yowling  that  they  would 
have  justice  and  would  not  listen  to  reason.  So  Ar-Ya  turned  to 
the  milkmaids  and  bade  them  remember  that  the  young  queen  had 
taken  their  crown  of  honeysuckle  and  mignonette  and  had  placed  it  on 
her  head  where  it  still  remained  in  her  trance,  and  for  her  sake  would 
they  submit  to  this  unjust  decree  and  let  the  young  giant  go  to  the 
gaol,  so  that  the  warriors  might  watch  by  her  side  in  peace? 

Their  eyes  were  full  of  tears  as  they  beheld  the  anguish  of  their 
king,  and  without  a  word,  they  escorted  the  poor  awkward  thing  to  the 
dungeon,  and  he  permitted  them  to  lock  it  up  with  the  rusty  old  bolts 
which  he  could  have  burst  asunder  without  half  trying. 

Now  this  was  very  brave  of  poor  "Lazybones,"  as  he  was  called, 
for  if  there  was  one  thing  he  hated  worse  than  another,  it  was  cobwebs 
and  spiders.  So  he  remained  there  for  the  sake  of  the  beautiful  young 
Queen  of  the  Bright  Ones  that  she  might  repose  in  peace  while  her  trance 
lasted.  But  sometimes  his  heart  beat  very  fast,  and  horror  overcame  him 
when  he  felt  the  cobwebs  trailing  around  him,  and  he  saw  the  eyes  of 
the  spiders  like  bright  beads  showing  up  even  in  the  darkness. 

But  the  four-horned  ladies  no  longer  wailed;  on  the  contrary  they 
sat  around  and  smiled  to  think  how  they  were  running  things  to  suit 
themselves  in  Ar-Ya's  kingdom.  And  this  was  a  great  triumph,  for  these 
ladies  did  not  belong  here  in  this  country  at  all,  but  were  left-overs  from 
many  caravans  passing  through,  they  and  all  their  relations,  whom  the 
old  king  (who  had  been  harsh  enough  to  his  own  sons)  had  permitted 
to  remain  in  order  to  amuse  him  with  their  caprices,  for  no  one  knew 
what  they  would  be  doing  next. 

This  might  amuse  a  tyrant  for  a  brief  hour,  but  it  played  hob  with 
the  country.  For  while  they  were  having  these  carryings-on,  nobody 
could  get  any  work  done,  and  when  the  work  stopped  things  went  smash. 
For  if  the  ground  is  not  dug  up  and  planted  at  the  proper  season,  there 
are  no  crops,  and  when  they  are  no  crops  everybody  starves.  But  these 
capricious  ladies  with  their  four-horns  who  planted  nothing  but  were 
like  so  many  grass-hopper  people  who  ate  up  every  green  leaf  that 
others  made  to  grow,  were  a  curse  to  the  land. 

One  of  these  who  considered  herself  a  great  beauty,  made  a  nice 
rennet-pudding  with  her  own  fair  hands  (or  pretended  that  she  did)  and 
carried  it  to  the  king  and  expressed  sorrow  over  his  misfortune  in  having  . 


56  FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN 

an  invalid  for  his  wife,  and  palavered  and  cast  sheep's  eyes  at  him,  and 
told  him  it  was  the  fashion  now  in  all  the  other  kingdoms  for  the  king 
to  have  several  wives,  and  why  should  not  he  do  the  same,  seeing  that  he 
had  been  so  unfortunate  as  to  have  his  first  wife  condemned  to  spend  her 
lifetime  in  a  trance?  And  then  she  told  him  how  well  she  understood 
court-customs  and  styles  and  felt  sure  that  her  mother's  daughter  would 
be  able  to  introduce  great  improvements  into  the  kingdom  should  she  be 
given  the  opportunity  to  do  so. 

But  Avenant,  or  Ar-Ya,  rather,  did  not  know  what  she  was  talking 
about,  and  so  asked  her  kindly  to  excuse  him  as  he  had  to  see  to  business 
matters  (which  of  course  meant  the  crops)  and  he  hoped  she  would  be 
feeling  better  on  the  morrow.  He  never  even  looked  at  the  rennet.  So 
she  took  her  departure  boiling  with  rage.  The  same  thing  happened  the 
next  day  when  the  second  one  came  on  the  same  errand,  also  bearing 
a  rennet-pudding.  Again  on  the  third  and  the  fourth  day  was  this 
repeated. 

Not  until  they  all  arrived  together  to  lay  before  him  the  wonderful 
proposition  of  adding  all  four  of  them  to  his  family  to  take  the  place  of 
the  sleeping  bride  of  his  heart  did  he  get  a  glimmering  of  what  they 
were  talking  about.  Even  then  his  mind  was  too  pure  to  understand 
them.  He  thought  they  were  talking  about  what  he  would  do  if  his 
beloved  Una  Materna  should  die  in  her  sleep  and  leave  him  thus 
bereaved. 

He  bent  his  brows  till  he  seemed  of  a  terrible  majesty  and  his  eyes 
flashed  fire.  "I  gave  my  word  of  honor,"  spoke  he  sternly,  "never  to  love 
another  woman  whether  I  won  the  Fair  One  with  Golden  Locks  or  did 
not  win  her,  and  my  word  is  as  good  as  my  bond  and  my  bond  as  myself. 
If  my  bride,  the  queen  of  this  land,  never  wakes,  but  dies  in  her  trance, 
I  will  destroy  every  habitation  in  this  place,  drive  away  the  people  to 
other  kingdoms,  and  go  forth  myself  to  conquer  the  great  world 
toward  the  land  of  Sunset,  even  as  my  older  brothers  have  done.  For 
without  Una  Materna  I  shall  become  a  homeless  wanderer  on  the  face 
of  the  earth.  And  if  I  hear  any  more  of  such  talk  as  this,  I  will  put 
all  four  of  you  into  the  dungeon  where  you  can  learn  to  repent  in  the 
midst  of  the  spiders." 

\Yith  smothered  screams  of  horror  all  of  the  four-horned  ladies 
gathered  up  their  skirts  and  ran  as  fast  as  they  could  to  their  own  places 
to  hide  with  their  witch-mothers,  \vho  had  put  them  up  to  all  these 
actions.  Hut  as  for  the  poisoned  rennets  left  behind,  the  doorkeeper 
kicked  them  out  the  back-door,  and  some  poor  unfortunate  little  pink 
pigs  came  along  and  devoured  them  and  were  turned  into  dreadful 
little  snakes  that  crawled  away  to  escape,  only  the  doorkeeper  went  after 
them  with  a  heavy  cudgel  and  destroyed  them. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

UNA   HEARS   THE   VOICE   OF   THE   POOR   YOUNG   GIANT. 

Meanwhile  during  all  this  time  what  had  become  of  the  poor  big  boy 
in  the  gaol?  He  had  fallen  sick  of  a  fever  and  he  kept  groaning,  "Oh, 
wot  am  I  in  here  fur  ?  I  never  did  nothing  to  nobody — wot  am  I  here  fur 
all  alone  with  nobody  but  spiders?"  And  at  last  his  groans  went  travel 
ing  by  the  air  to  the  ears  of  the  queen  as  she  lay  in  her  trance.  You 
know  I  told  you  she  had  an  inner  sight  and  hearing  by  which  she 
"sensed"  things  from  far  away. 

Moondy  was  the  first  to  notice  that  her  eye-lids  were  quivering.  He 
sent  word  to  the  king  and  he  came  at  once  through  the  great  hedge  of 
thorn-briars  which  opened  before  him  to  let  him  pass  through,  showing 
that  the  magic  hour  had  arrived.  Thus  came  Ar-Ya  to  the  couch  where 
lay  Una  Materna,  the  sleeping  bride  of  his  heart.  Would  she  waken  ? 
Would  she  know  him  ?  He  knelt  beside  her  and  kissed  her  upon  the 
forehead  sacredly.  She  opened  her  dark  blue  eyes,  but  there  was  no 
smile  on  her  beautiful  face.  She  looked  at  him  reproachfully. 

"Forgive  me,  my  Una  Materna,"  he  said  tenderly,  "I  am  sorry !" 

"I  do  not  understand  the  ways  of  men,"  she  murmured  half  under 
her  breath,  and  closed  her  eyes  again  as  if  she  took  no  interest  in  life. 

"What  can  I  do  to  please  you?  You  are  my  life  and  my  all,"  he 
continued,  still  kneeling  by  her  side.  "I  wanted  to  have  you  love  me  for 
myself  alone  and  not  because  I  was  king." 

"It  was  wicked  of  you,"  she  returned  slowly,  as  if  her  heart  were 
breaking.  "I  might  have  learned  to  like  you,  Ar-Ya,  but  I  do  not  care 
for  ihat  Avenant  at  all !  I  consider  him  vain  and  selfish."  And  she  felt 
better  when  she  had  said  it. 

Still  Ar-Ya  kept  entreating  her  forgiveness  and  asking  what  he  could 
do  to  please  her. 

"Why  do  you  keep  that  poor  boy  in  there  with  those  spiders?"  she 
asked  him,  sitting  up  all  at  once.  "Let  me  go  and  give  him  his  freedom  ?" 

"So  you  shall,"  exclaimed  Ar-Ya  in  a  tumult  of  delight.  And  the 
warriors  put  their  spears  together  and  made  a  litter  for  her  and  carried 
her  to  the  door  of  the  dungeon.  They  could  hear  the  mutterings  and 
wailings  of  the  poor  big  boy  who  still  was  asking  why  was  he  there. 

She  took  the  great  rusty  keys  and  turned  them  in  the  rusty  locks  and 
threw  the  rusty  door  open.  But  the  poor  fellow  was  in  a  fever  and  did 
not  know  the  door  was  open  and  kept  saying  things  about  how  he  could 
get  out  easy  enough  only  the  young  queen  had  smiled  at  him  and  so 
to  please  her  he  had  gone  in  and  now  had  to  stay  there  so  she  would 
be  peaceful  in  her  sleep. 

All  at  once  new  energy  entered  into  her  veins.  She  hastened  into 
the  spidery  place  and  touched  her  hand  to  his  forehead  and  spoke  to  him, 
and  a  sort  of  understanding  seemed  to  pass  between  them.  He  groaned 
no  more.  The  warriors  led  him  out  and  she  ordered  food  and  drink  for 
him.  There  were  the  milkmaids  and  the  shepherds  and  the  other 
workers  standing  all  around,  and  at  this,  they  knelt  before  her  and 


58  FAIRY  TALE  OP  THE  WHITE  MAN 

promised  they  would  always  be  good  in  return  for  her  kindness  to  the 
poor  young  giant. 

By  this  time  he  seemed  quite  himself  again  and  made  some  foolish 
remarks  to  set  them  off  laughing  as  was  his  way,  for  he  was  a  bit  of  a 
clown  when  he  had  enough  to  eat.  But  you  shall  hear  more  of  him  later 
on. 

Una  was  now7  talking  to  the  milkmaids  and  their  mothers.  "What 
weaves  have  you?"  she  asked.  "And  show  me  your  flax." 

But  it  was  all  very  poor  and  crude,  not  like  the  fine  materials  she 
had  brought  with  her.  So  she  ordered  her  bags  opened  and  gave  them 
seeds  to  plant  and  told  them  how  to  proceed  to  get  new  flax  that  was 
better  than  theirs,  and  how  to  spin  it  and  how  to  weave  the  warp  and 
the  woof  into  good  lasting  materials.  And  she  asked  about  their  leaven 
and  told  them  what  to  do  to  make  it  more  wholesome,  and  many  other 
things  of  great  interest  to  people  of  everyday  life. 

"Bread  is  very  important,"  she  told  them.  Everybody  became  so 
interested  that  they  forgot  everything  else,  when  all  at  once  the  four- 
horned  ladies  appeared  and  complained  that  no  one  was  setting  the  table 
for  dinner,  and  they  were  hungry  and  needed  to  eat. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE    FOUR-HORNED    CARAVAN. 

Now  the  king  and  the  warriors  were  so  delighted  to  see  Una  Ma- 
terna  taking  an  interest  in  life  again,  that  they  were  keeping  very  quiet 
and  making  every  one  else  keep  quiet,  so  she  would  go  on  and  on,  getting 
interested  in  the  people  and  the  place,  for  they  did  not  know  but  that  at 
any  moment  she  might  start  off  for  the  West  as  on  that  first  journey  of 
hers! 

And  they  all  knew  they  should  go  along  with  her  because  she  had 
that  air  of  authority  born  in  her  that  made  men  obey  her  to  their  own 
good.  And  they  were  tired  after  so  many  battlings  with  the  foe,  and 
wanted  to  stay  here  awhile  longer ;  for  they  knew  already  of  themselves 
that  they  longed  to  go  some  day  to  the  land  of  Sunset  for  it  was  in  their 
blood  to  do  so.  But  not  yet  awhile  they  said,  for  they  could  foresee  that 
it  would  be  a  terrible  journey,  fighting  with  dragons  and  all  sorts  of  wild 
beasts,  and  they  needed  to  know  many  things  ere  they  started,  in  order 
to  prepare  them  beforehand. 

So  they  wanted  Una  to  be  contented  with  that  land  till  they  got 
ready  to  go.  The  king  frowned  at  these  foreigners  thrusting  themselves 
in  just  when  they  were  least  wanted.  He  waved  his  hand  objecting  to 
these  marplots  whose  hearts  were  full  of  hate  fulness,  to  make  them  go 
away.  And  the  warriors  did  not  fail  to  shake  their  mighty  fists  beneath 
the  four  noses  of  them  to  discourage  their  further  advance. 

But  they,  these  four-horned  ladies  all  dressed  up  fit  to  kill,  remem 
bering  how  successfully  they  had  worked  their  previous  plot,  fell  back  on 
yowling  and  wailing  and  weeping  once  more  to  accomplish  their  ends,  for 
their  witch-mothers  were  with  them  there  urging  them  on  to  do  their 
worst. 

These  "left-overs"  from  preceding  caravans  took  advantage  of  the 
fact  that  the  men  did  not  want  to  hurt  them.  They  knew  they,  the  men, 
were  too  noble  to  knock  them  down,  so  they  did  not  care  what  they  did 
to  try  them  to  the  uttermost,  and  they  gave  way  to  the  witch-like  natures 
in  them,  and  acted  like  gibbering  baboons. 

Of  course  everything  was  spoiled  for  everybody  else  with  such  a 
circus  as  this  going  on.  The  milkmaids  and  the  shepherds  and  the 
workers  were  alarmed  and  everybody  was  distracted. 

"Who  are  these?"  asked  Una  Materna,  standing  to  her  full  height. 

"We  are  very  important,  we  are !"  said  they  in  one  voice  sobbing  like 
perverse  children. 

"What  are  you  doing  with  those  horns  on  your  heads?"  asked  the 
young  queen. 

They  could  not  for  the  life  of  them  explain. 

"If  I  am  going — to — stay — here — ''  began  Una  Materna,  as  if  she 
had  not  yet  decided  that  she  would. 

So  the  king  stood  up  then  and  took  the  matter  in  hand.  "I  declare 
a  new  edict  on  this  day.  All  those  who  wish  to  wear  four  horns  or  any 
horns  on  their  heads  must  seek  new  kingdoms  to  live  in !  Or  else  be 
placed  in  the  dungeon.  I  have  spoken." 


60  PAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN 

At  this  the  workers  and  shepherds  and  common  people  gave  a  great 
shout  of  joy  and  began  dancing  with  each  other  like  mad.  The  young 
giant  smiled  wanly  and  said,  "Guess  they  won't  like  them  spiders  neether." 

But  the  horned  ladies,  being  "left-overs,"  did  not  seem  to  compre 
hend  what  an  edict  was.  They  said  they  wouldn't  any  such  thing!  So 
then  the  men  had  to  yoke  up  a  few  oxen  and  gather  together  a  few 
provisions,  and  when  it  was  all  ready  they  told  the  horned  ladies  with 
their  witch-mothers  to  get  in  and  go  off  with  the  caravan  to  the  next 
kingdom.  But  they  tossed  their  horns  and  said  they  would  not  go.  So 
the  next  thing  they  knew  they  were  running  like  chickens  and  those 
rough  plowmen  after  them,  and  of  course  they  were  caught  because  a 
man  can  run  faster  than  a  woman,  and  they  were  hurried  up  to  that 
awful  dungeon  of  spiders  and  put  in  until  they  changed  their  minds, 
which  was  in  about  five  minutes,  and  decided  to  go  away  in  the  caravan. 

Their  unfortunate  relatives  had  to  go  along  with  them,  root  and 
branch,  men,  women  and  children,  so  as  to  keep  them  company,  because 
that  was  the  Ar-Yan  way — they  never  separated  families.  And  there 
was  an  awful  time  finding  them  because  the  relatives  declared  they  were 
not  to  blame  because  of"  all  this  four-horned  business,  and  so  they  had 
hidden  away  like  in  a  game  of  blind  man's  bluff  or  high  spy,  from  the 
rough  plowmen.  But  at  last  the  roll  was  called,  and  all  were  there 
excepting  just  one,  a  poor  bed-ridden  old  aunt  who  was  also  blind  and 
stone  deaf,  and  as  they  could  not  explain  the  thing  to  her  under  a  year 
or  so,  they  gave  up  the  job  and  said  to  let  her  stay  and  we  will  take  care 
of  her  for  she  has  not  long  to  live,  poor  thing !  So  it  was  done,  and  all 
the  rest  of  the  families  of  the  four-horned  ladies  got  into  the  carts  or 
walked  alongside  or  lagged  behind  and  so  disappeared  into  the  distance, 
as  all  hoped,  forever. 

But  we  shall  see. 

Of  course  it  might  seem  strange  that  those  four  ladies  would  not 
be  willing  to  take  off  those  terrible  four-horned  head-dresses  that  caused 
all  this  unnecessary  bother  and  fuss,  and  save  themselves  and  everybody 
such  an  awful  waste  of  time.  But  no,  they  were  horn-mad.  They  pre 
ferred  to  perish  rather  than  give  them  up,  which  shows  how  queerly  the 
human  mind  can  work  when  it  has  not  that  fine  property  of  "thinkability" 
which  enables  us  all  to  live  together  in  a  state  of  peace. 

Well,  it  was  a  great  day  for  the  land  of  Ar-Ya  when  that  four- 
horned  caravan  went  away  from  it  to  the  next  kingdom.  Would  that  it 
had  gone  "farther  and  farther  than  far"  till  they  had  been  lost  forever, 
but  this  is  history,  and  so  we  cannot  change  things,  and  tell  the  story  the 
way  it  ought  to  have  been,  but  as  it  was. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

WHAT   FIVE  FALLING  STARS    BROUGHT. 

As  if  a  blight  had  passed  from  the  land,  with  the  going  of  that  ill- 
omened  caravan,  everything  burgeoned  and  blossomed  like  the  rose. 

Such  crops  you  never  did  see,  and  the  blossoms  of  the  flax  shone  out 
in  sweet  blue  eyes  like  mimic  skies  amid  the  fields  everywhere.  Doves 
were  cooing,  lambs  were  bleating,  and  cows  were  lowing  with  content 
ment.  The  pastures  were  full  of  green  grass,  and  the  wheat  and  the 
barley  were  waving  in  the  wind,  when  a  star  fell  from  the  heavens  one 
night  bringing  to  Una  Materna  and  King  Ar-Ya  one  of  the  handsomest 
little  boys  ever  seen,  with  dark  eyes  but  a  skin  like  milk,  and  his  frame 
was  slender  and  graceful.  As  he  grew,  he  was  not  very  active  but 
thoughtful,  and  got  up  early  to  behold  the  sunrise  which  seemed  to  him 
the  most  fascinating  thing  in  the  world.  He  was  named  Hindo  and  after 
wards  became  Indo. 

He  would  take  a  long  piece  of  linen  and  wrap  it  about  his  head 
into  a  turban  to  keep  his  brain  from  the  heating  rays  of  the  sun,  and 
he  sang  wonderful  songs  about  the  beauty  of  the  sun  and  the  fields  and 
the  morning.  They  may  be  read  to  this  day  in  the  Sanscrit  language 
where  they  have  been  preserved  for  thousands  of  years. 

It  was  in  the  summer  of  another  year,  when  he  was  quite  a  good 
sized  boy,  that  a  star  fell  across  the  heavens  with  a  grand  train  of 
silver  behind  it,  and  brought  to  the  happy  parents,  a  little  daughter,  of 
whom  it  has  been  said,  that  she  was  as  beautiful  as  Una  Materna 
herself.  But  that  we  refuse  to  believe.  She  was  blue-eyed  and  milk- 
white  and  had  wonderful  golden  hair  and  loved  the  sun,  too,  as  did 
her  brother.  Her  name  was  Gracia  and  she  used  to  drape  herself  in 
scarves  of  linen  very  delightfully. 

When  the  third  star  fell,  it  brought  another  daughter  and  she  was 
more  like  Indo,  with  a  high  nose  and  black  eyes  and  they  called  her 
Roma.  She  was  soon  as  tall  as  Gracia,  and  always  tried  to  rule  her 
for  she  had  a  very  imperious  way  about  her  and  was  always  determined 
that  everybody  should  come  under  her  will.  She  also  loved  the  sun 
but  was  always  watching  for  the  sunset-hour  and  glory  rather  than 
that  of  the  morning.  Her  taste  was  also  more  gorgeous  than  that  of 
Gracia's. 

When  the  fourth  star  fell,  it  brought  a  fair  little  boy  who  was 
different  from  the  other  children.  He  was  blue-eyed  like  the  flax- 
blossom  and  golden-haired,  but  was  so  strong  and  active  that  he  never 
quit  running  from  the  time  he  got  up  in  the  morning  till  he  went  to 
bed.  He  took  a  great  interest  in  the  fields  and  in  the  mountains  but 
did  not  love  the  sun  so  much  as  did  the  other  three.  Such  a  hardy 
strong  little  boy,  rather  stern  of  face  he  was!  Very  early  he  got  two 
wings  and  put  them  on  each  side  of  his  head  in  imitation  of  the  helmet 
worn  by  Avenant  (or  Ar-Ya  rather)  when  he  went  to  win  Una  Materna 
for  his  bride. 

And  the  warriors  smiled  to  see  him  and  said  to  each  other  that  he 
was  going  to  equal  his  father,  the  king,  when  he  grew  up.  Indeed  he 


62  FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN 

was  their  favorite  of  all  the  children.  And  he  was  the  one  who  gave 
them  their  names  as  we  now  have  them,  for  he  never  forgot  them  but 
kept  them  always  in  his  heart,  no  matter  how  far  he  traveled  when  he 
went  on  his  long  quest  in  search  of  the  land  of  the  Sunset.  And  they 
called  him  Sax. 

When  he  was  getting  his  second  teeth  and  was  a  sturdy  strong 
little  fellow,  there  came  a  fifth  star  from  the  skies  bringing  to  him  and 
the  others  the  most  interesting  little  brother.  He  seemed  to  have  brought 
with  him  a  message  to  deliver,  and  began  to  talk  very  soon  and  to 
try  to  explain  what  this  message  might  be.  But  Roma  laughed  at  him 
and  ridiculed  him.  Gracia  did  not  take  any  interest,  and  Indo  was 
busy  with  his  own  thoughts.  Sax  played  with  him  more  than  did  the 
others.  But  he  was  an  odd  one  among  them,  that  was  evident. 

Always  King  Ar-Ya  did  as  do  all  fathers :  He  used  to  play  with 
this  little  chap  of  his  and  throw  him  up  in  the  air  and  cry  "Upsa-Day"* 
—that  is  a  word  four  thousand  years  old  and  it  means  "to  catch" — 
but  this  was  not  a  merry  baby  but  very  serious.  So  Ar-Ya  had  to  find 
some  other  way  than  this  to  amuse  him,  different  from  the  other 
children. 

Una  Materna  held  him  close  to  her  heart  and  looked  into  his  dark 
eyes,  and  tried  to  understand  what  the  wee  mite  of  a  beginning  of  a 
prophet  was  trying  to  say.  When  the  other  children  were  saying  "goo" 
and  "dah"  and  "neenee"  (meaning  drink  of  water)  this  baby  was  point 
ing  upward  and  urging  recognition  of  some  great  Power  above.  Una 
Materna  had  always  referred  to  it  as  "Dyaus-Pitar,"  the  great  Sky- 
Father.  But  the  eager  little  fellow  would  insist  on  calling  it  by  a 
name  of  his  own  which  she  learned  finally  and  treasured  in  her  heart. 

They  named  him  Semitra,  but  often  she  clasped  him  closely  to  her, 
and  whispered  her  pet  name  for  him  alone,  for  the  others  were  jealous 
of  him,  and  said,  "My  little  Hillel !" 

*This    word    is    today    usually    called    "Upsa-daisy." 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

UNA    MATERNA   REFUSES   TO   FORGIVE   AVENANT. 

The  sun  was  setting  in  full  glory,  and  the  warriors  were  standing- 
gazing  upon  its  splendor  with  their  usual  longing,  and  Sax  was  with 
them,  and  little  Semitra  sat  upon  the  shoulder  of  old  Moondy  with  his 
tiny  hands  clasped  together  and  listening  to  all  they  were  saying  with 
a  wise  look  upon  his  baby  features. 

No  longer  was  the  bronze  in  the  hair  and  beard  of  the  old  warriors, 
for  the  frost  had  crept  in  slowly,  yet  still  would  you  call  them  "The 
Bright  Ones,"  because  of  the  ardor  of  their  hearts  and  the  eternal 
bon-fire  blazing  in  their  eyes. 

Moondy  was  talking  to  Sax,  and  pointing  to  the  crimson  and  gold 
glory  in  the  beloved  West,  while  the  six  others  were  nodding  their  heads 
and  agreeing  with  him.  "Some  day  we  are  going  that  path,  and  you 
shall  be  our  chief,  and  we  shall  never  stop  until  we  have  reached  the 
land  and  take  it  for  our  own." 

"Yes,"  said  Sax  proudly,  "I  shall  be  your  chief.  But  what  will 
Semitra  be?" 

By  this  time  the  golden  sun  had  sunk  into  his  crimson  bed  and 
was  now  drawing  his  shadowy  curtains  about  him.  Above  hung  the 
crescent  moon  and  the  evening  star.  Semitra  pointed  to  it  eagerly — "See, 
far,  far,  far,  I  will  follow  the  star."  So  after  that,  they  always  called 
it,  "The  star  of  Semitra." 

**  **#***:):# 

That  evening  Una  Materna  sat  thinking,  meditatively.  The  king 
came  in  and  sat  down  too,  and  began  talking  about  the  crops.  For  of 
course,  you  must  know  that  if  kings  do  not  attend  to  the  crops,  every 
thing  will  go  wrong,  there  will  be  famines  and  everybody  will  starve 
to  death.  You've  simply  got  to  think  about  the  crops. 

However,  for  once,  Una  Materna  did  not  seem  to  be  interested. 
So  he  came  over  and  sat  down  beside  her  and  took  her  slender  hand 
in  his,  and  asked  her  what  she  was  thinking  about. 

Her  face  lighted  up  with  a  glory  like  that  of  the  setting  sun. 

"Do  you  know,  Paterno,"  she  responded  (for  she  never  called  him 
Avenant  nor  Ar-Ya  either,  but  always  Paterno),  "I  am  quite  convinced 
that  our  children  are  going  to  be  something  fine  and  wonderful  when 
they  grow  up." 

"Is  that  so,  Materna!"  he  exclaimed.  "Well,  I  am  very  glad  of 
it !  They  are  trouble  enough  the  way  they  smash  things  and  upset 
things  now,  for  them  to  become  kings  and  queens  of  the  earth  in  order 
to  pay  for  their  up-bringing." 

"Well,  I  really  believe  that  is  what  they  are  going  to  be,"  said 
the  beautiful  queen  of  the  WHITE  Race.  "Now  there  is  Ind,  so 
graceful  and  so  talented  and  his  sculptured  features  show  his  fine 
lineage.  I  can  see  a  land  by  a  southern  sea  full  of  palms  and  beautiful 
temples  waiting  for  him.  For  Gracia  there  is  a  kingdom  by  another 
sea,  where  the  waters  are  blue,  and  marble  shall  be  the  temples  she 
will  build.  Not  far  from  her  Roma  will  establish  a  greater  empire  that 


64  FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN 

shall  last  for  a  thousand  years  and  affect  all  later  governments.  But 
up  by  the  cold  North  Sea  amid  snows  and  long  winters  will  Sax  build 
him  a  rule  that  shall  spread  across  the  great  waters  to  a  new  world  and 
thence  across  that  mighty  land  to  the  edge  of  the  earth  where  sleeps 
the  sun  every  night  in  his  golden  bed.  And  here  shall  they  all  gather 
together  once  more  and  their  children's  children  dwell  here  in  bonds  of 
peace." 

"You  are  their  mother  and  you  ought  to  know,"  spoke  the  king 
half  in  jest  and  half  in  earnest,  for  he  knew  of  that  inner  sense  of  hers 
and  believed  in  it.  "But  what  do  you  see  for  our  little  prophet  who 
has  invented  a  new  name  for  Sky-Father?" 

A  troubled  look  came  over  the  face  of  Una  Materna.  "Alas !  I 
fear  for  him,  his  sorrows  will  be  many.  And  yet  he  will  follow  his  star 
and  survive  Gracia  and  Ind  and  possibly  Sax.  He  and  his  children 
will  be  few  yet  shall  they  dominate  an  unseen  empire  though  no  land 
may  be  their  own.  And  the  story  of  his  wanderings  shall  be  preserved 
as  a  precious  book  for  the  whole  world  forever.  I  must  keep  him 
close  to  me  and  protect  him  for  he  is  such  a  little  fellow  and  his 
brothers  and  sisters  are  not  kind  to  him.  Yet  he  is  the  dearest  of  all 
to  my  heart  because  of  his  wonderful  wisdom.  I  do  not  see  where  he 
gets  it !"  And  she  drew  him  to  her  breast  and  gazed  upon  him  with 
tears  in  her  eyes. 

"Materna,"  spoke  Ar-Ya  proudly,  "he  gets  it  from  you — you  always 
were  wise  and  prudent  and  right-minded.  Why  should  you  not  have 
one  child  more  remarkable  than  any  other  child  in  the  world?" 

"Thank  you,  Paterno,  that  is  the  dearest  compliment  you  ever  paid 
me  in  your  life.  I  should  love  to  think  it  even  so." 

"Then  in  return — may  I — not  ask  a  favor?"  he  inquired  with  a 
serious  look  on  his  face. 

She  waited. 

"Won't  you — forgive — Avenant?" 

"Hut  suppose  I  had  loved  Avenant  on  my  journey,"  'she  exclaimed, 
"how  then  should  I  have  been  a  true  wife  to  Ar-Ya?"  And  she  stood 
up  to  her  full  height.  So  he  said  no  more. 

She  always  held  that  they  were  not  one  and  the  same  but  two 
distinct  personages.  She  always  forgave  Ar-Ya  for  his  part  of  the 
deception  practiced  upon  her  when  he  was  pretending  he  was  Avenant. 
Hut  she  would  never  forgive  Avenant  for  his  not  letting  her  know  he 
was  Ar-Ya. 

"He  should  have  told  me,"  she  would  say.  "He  should  have  told 
me  that  night  when  he  left  the  caravan,  and  then  I  should  have  been 
saved  one  night's  weeping  for  nothing,  and  have  gone  to  my  bridal 
with  a  tranquil  heart.  I  do  not  understand  the  ways  of  men." 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

HOW   THE  FOUR-HORNED  CARAVAN    CAME   BACK. 

As  they  stood  there  both  so  splendid  and  majestic,  someone  came 
running-  down  the  road,  and  after  him  many  others  to  give  the  news 
of  an  approaching-  caravan.  It  was  the  young-  giant  and  the  plowmen 
and  shepherds  and  common  folk.  And  they  were  calling  out  that  it 
was  the  same  old  caravan  of  the  four-horned  ladies  returning  with  all 
their  relations,  and  they  came  to  make  a  call  on  the  poor  old  bed-ridden 
aunt  who  was  stone  deaf  and  stone  blind  and  dumb  as  well. 

The  Ar-Yans  were  a  kind  people  or  she  would  have  died  long 
before,  so  there  she  was,  like  a  stone  effigy  with  only  a  heart-beat  every 
month  or  so  to  keep  her  in  the  semblance  of  a  living  being.  But  these 
four-horned  ladies  with  their  witch-mothers  had  to  come  back  to  make 
her  a  visit,  of  course.  They  just  loved  that  old  aunt  of  theirs,  and 
they  could  not  stand  it  any  longer  without  seeing  her.  Besides  they 
wanted  to  get  some  very  important  history  of  the  family  about  their 
great-grandmother's  cousin  on  their  mother's  side  who  had  been  a 
general  or  something,  and  nobody  on  earth  knew  about  it,  excepting 
this  bed-ridden  old  crone,  whom  before  they  had  never  cared  to  hear 
talk  at  all  when  she  wanted  to,  on  all  these  past  items.  But  all  at 
once  she  loomed  up  as  large  to  view  as  a  great  black  thunder-cloud 
in  the  sky. 

In  this  moment  of  perplexity,  both  Una  and  Ar-Ya  turned  to  the 
old  nurse,  Resonia,  who  sat  in  the  chimney-corner  with  her  knitting 
as  of  yore,  to  find  out  what  she  thought  of  this  subterfuge  on  the  part 
of  the  four-horned  ladies  to  get  back  once  more  into  the  land  of  Ar-Ya. 
Always  brief  in  her  replies,  the  Wise  Woman  remarked  oracularly, 
"Great  oaks  from  little  acorns  grow,  and  big  events  arise  from  a 
foolish  caprice." 

Already  the  caravan  had  camped  in  their  midst. 
Ar-Ya  hastened  to  meet  the  train-master  and  tell  him  that  on  the 
mororw  he  must  move  on  for  the  edict  still  remained  in  force,  and  neither 
he  nor  his  people  could  continue  there  over  another  day  in  their  land.  He 
sent  the  warriors  to  make  a  litter  for  the  old  crone  of  an  aunt,  and 
remove  her  from  her  place,  and  discover  a  corner  for  her  in  the  caravan 
so  they  might  take  their  traditions  and  their  dear  ancient  with  them, 
and  trouble  the  Ar-Yans  never  more. 

But  the  four-horned  ladies  protested  loudly,  and  wept  piteously, 
and  begged  to  see  their  dear  land  for  a  few  days  more,  and  be  permitted 
to  make  the  acquaintance  of  the  delightful  young  princes  and  princesses 
of  whom  they  had  heard  so  much,  and  then  they  would  go  on  their 
way,  as  they  were  Westward  Bound  for  the  Land  of  Sunset,  and  any 
who  wished  to  join  them  would  be  most  welcome. 

"Westward  Bound !"  The  very  words  thrilled  through  the  air  and 
cast  a  veil  of  enchantment  over  everything,  even  the  four-horned  ones 
themselves. 

The  king  hesitated  and  the  force  of  his  edict  was  lost.  Having 
ofiven  his  command  he  should  have  remained  firm. 


66  FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN 

But  the  very  sound  of  that  magic  phrase  cast  a  spell  over  his 
judgment.  What  harm  could  a  few  days  in  Ar-Ya  do,  seeing  that 
they  then  would  go  on  their  way,  leaving  them  in  peace?  Of  course 
Una  Materna  would  not  like  it,  but  she  had  refused  to  forgive  Avenant, 
and  his  heart  was  sore  over  it.  So  he  gave  the  caravan  of  the  four- 
horned  ladies  three  days'  grace,  and  learned  from  them  of  the  new 
glories  of  that  "Forward  March !"  which  were  alluring  them  thither. 

Kven  the  old  warriors  stood  and  listened,  although  there  was 
nothing  new  for  them  to  tell — it  was  just  the  same  old  story  that  had 
taken  Ar-Ya's  older  brothers  away  long  before  to  strange  and  unknown 
regions  whence  they  never  returned.  No  one  ever  returned.  There 
was  a  mystery  about  that  Land  of  the  Sunset ;  yet  they  all  wanted  to 
go  thither.  Just  to  look  at  those  who  were  going  forth  to  brave  the 
dangers  was  enough  to  draw  them  near. 

Sax  was  with  the  warriors  as  usual  and  little  Semitra.  Of  course 
the  four-horned  ladies  made  a  great  fuss  over  them  and  called  them 
"darling"  and  "sweetheart"  and  "pet"  and  "lovey"  and  "honey,"  which 
they,  the  children,  did  not  like  at  all.  They  remained  aloof  and  gazed 
at  them  severely  and  would  not  be  coaxed  to  endure  their  embraces,  for 
little  children  know  when  hearts  are  false. 

Then  came  Ind  and  Roma  and  Gracia,  and  tremendous  were  the 
flatteries  poured  over  them  which  quite  turned  their  heads,  for  while 
Una  Materna  herself  might  consider  her  brood  superior,  she  did  not 
confide  this  to  them  while  they  were  in  their  formative  state. 

Everything  was  in  a  state  of  sour  fermentation  in  an  hour's  time 
from  the  carryings-on  of  these  witches'  daughters. 

Then  came  Una  Materna  on  the  scene.  Little  Semitra  pointed  his 
fore-finger  to  the  foremost  of  this  ill-omened  crew  of  abnormal  beings 
who  was  giving  sweetmeats  and  candied  pomegranate-seeds  to  his  elder 
brothers  and  sisters  and  said,  briefly,  "Bad-dums!" 

She  took  him  into  her  arms,  and  Sax  by  the  hand,  and  bade  the 
warriors  fetch  the  other  three  to  her  at  once.  Then  she  packed  her 
needfuls  and  took  them  all  away  with  her  to  the  lodge  near  the  forest 
where  they  often  went  for  a  change  of  air. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

UNA    MATERNA    PLUNGES    INTO   THE   DARK    FOREST. 

Now  the  older  three  were  angry  at  having-  been  taken  away  from 
the  scene  of  excitement,  for  a  passing  caravan  was  always  a  source 
of  much  amusement  to  them  all  in  the  land  of  the  Ar-Yans.  They  were 
determined  to  be  revenged  on  their  tiny  brother  for  his  having  set  their 
mother  against  the  delightful  ladies  with  the  four-horns,  and  so  the 
next  morning  they  persuaded  Una  Materna  to  let  them  all  go  into 
the  forest  to  play  together,  promising  to  return  in  an  hour  or  so.  As 
they  had  often  done  so  before,  there  was  no  particular  reason  to  forbid 
it.  But  she  seemed  to  have  a  dread  of  something  happening  like  a 
shadow  over  her  path  as  if  from  an  unknown  winged  thing  above  her 
that  she  could  not  see.  She  protested  but  they  all  coaxed  her  so  that 
she  was  persuaded  against  her  better  judgment.  Then  she  told  them 
to  go  but  little  Semitra  should  stay  with  her.  But  Roma  whose  heart 
was  full  of  hatefulness,  unworthy  of  the  White  Alan's  blood  in  her 
veins,  entreated  that  he  should  be  allowed  to  go  with  them. 

So  the  Queen  took  her  little  boy  on  her  knee,  and  kissed  him  on 
the  forehead,  and  bade  them  all  be  careful  with  him  and  not  to  stay 
away  long  for  Semitra  was  the  joy  of  her  heart. 

So  the  five  children  of  one  father  and  one  mother  started  out 
together,  but  little  Semitra  ran  back  to  her  who  stood  anxiously  watching 
them  and  kissed  her  on  the  forehead  also  for  which  she  had  to  stoop 
to  him,  and  so  gave  him  one  more  embrace.  It  was  the  last.  She  never 
saiv  him  again. 

For  when  they  all  got  well  into  the  forest  the  older  ones  began 
to  ridicule  him  and  tease  him  and  to  show  their  miserable  jealousy 
because  it  was  so,  that  he  was  the  joy  of  his  mother's  heart. 

The  poor  little  fellow  stood  in  their  midst  with  his  dark  mournful 
eyes  swimming  in  tears,  though  he  said  not  a  word.  It  was  pitiful. 
But  Sax  protested  at  first,  and  began  to  kick  at  Roma  though  she  was 
so  much  larger,  and  he  took  Semitra  by  the  hand  and  said,  "Come.  I'll 
take  care  of  you,"  and  thus  the  two  smallest  ran  together  further  away 
into  the  forest.  Then  Roma  ran  after  them,  and  struck  Sax,  and 
parted  them,  and  gave  little  Semitra  a  push  so  that  he  fell  among  the 
thorn-briers,  and  they  pierced  his  delicate  flesh  so  he  was  dyed  with 
the  crimson  of  his  own  blood.  But  she  only  laughed  and  seized  Sax 
by  the  hand  and  dragged  him  away  with  her,  and  Ind  had  already  gone 
home,  but  Gracia  was  still  there. 

"Come,"  said  Roma,  "help  me  pull  Sax  along  and  let  that  mean 
baby  back  there  think  we  have  gone  off  and  left  him.  It  will  serve 
him  right  for  interfering  with  our  pleasure." 

They  could  hear  the  cries  of  little  Semitra  from  the  distance,  calling, 
calling  to  them  vainly.  They  hardened  their  hearts  and  left  him 
behind. 

Poor  little  prophet,  and  seeker  after  the  wonderful  star,  that  was 
a  sorrowful  day  for  all  the  earth !  For  a  terrible  storm  came  up,  the 
wind  raved  in  the  trees  and  bent  them  over  and  broke  them  off  with 


68  FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN 

fearful  crashes,  the  flood-gates  of  heaven  opened,  the  thunders  roared 
and  the  waters  poured  in  streams  like  rivers  everywhere  from  sudden 
cloud-bursts. 

The  warriors  met  Roma  and  Gracia  with  Sax  and  asked  for  little 
Semitra,  but  they  were  drenched  through  by  this  time  and  could  not 
explain  what  had  become  of  the  child.  They  had  waited  for  him,  they 
said,  but  he  had  wandered  away  and  they  could  not  find  him.  Ind  had 
returned  early  and  so  had  escaped  the  storm. 

At  the  sight  of  the  three  there  and  no  little  Semitra  with  them, 
Una  Materna  plunged  into  the  dark  forest,  the  picture  of  fierce  mother 
hood  and  could  not  be  restrained  by  her  warriors  so  they  went  with 
her  as  of  yore  when  she  was  but  a  child  of  three  and  yet  their  queen. 
Hither  and  yon  they  went,  finding,,  a  scrap  of  his  little  tunic  here,  and 
a  bit  of  his  scarf  there,  and  at  last  in  the  thorn-briers  they  found  a 
piece  of  Roma's  drapery  and  the  thorns  were  red  with  blood. 

"My  little  Hillel,"  cried  Una  Materna  in  her  great  despair,  "they 
have  killed  him !" 

"Nay,"  insisted  good  old  Moondy,  "he  is  not  here.  He*  is  still 
alive  somewhere." 

Farther  and  farther  they  went  all  in  the  terrible  storm  and  darkness 
of  the  black  forest  for  three  days,  lost  themselves  finally  amid  the 
wildness  of  everything. 

"My  little  Semitra,"  called  Una  Materna  in  the  face  of  the  storm, 
"come  to  thy  mother — thy  mother  is  here !" 

But  nothing  save  the  echoes  of  her  own  despair  gave  answer  to 
her  weeping.  She  knew  she  would  never  see  him  again. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

UNA   MATERNA  FORGIVES  AVENANT. 

Strong  men  found  them,  and  they  were  headed  by  king  Ar-Ya 
who  lifted  his  queen  from  the  ground  and  wrapped  her  in  warm 
garments  and  gave  her  the  needed  food  (which  at  first  she  refused) 
from  his  own  hand.  And  he  was  shaking  from  head  to  foot  in  his 
anguish. 

"Our  little  lost  boy,"  he  said,  "is  with  the  Sky-Father — he  is  safe, 
but  our  other  chilldren  need  us  now  more  than  ever,  for  they  repent 
for  what  they  have  done.  Eat  for  their  sakes.  Live  for  their  sakes." 

A  strange  thought  entered  the  mind  of  Una  Materna.  "And  not 
for  thine?"  she  asked  sternly. 

"Since  you  have  lost  the  joy  of  your  heart,  I  would  not  ask  you 
to  live  for  my  sake.  I  am  not  worthy  of  your  beautiful  service,"  spoke 
the  king,  shaken  through  and  through  by  his  emotion.  "I  am  like  that 
one  to  whom  came  an  angel  and  he  plucked  her  wings  of  their  feathers, 
and  put  her  into  a  pot  to  boil  for  his  dinner.  Had  I  stood  firm  pro 
tecting  you  and  the  children,  this  would  never  have  happened.  I  am 
ashamed — I  am  not  worthy.  But  live  for  their  sakes,  if  not  for  mine." 

"Avenant,"  murmured  Una  Materna,  softly,  as  if  it  were  the 
sweetest  word  in  the  world,  "I  forgive  thee." 

"Then  live  for  Avenant's  sake,"  he  implored. 

So  she  gathered  her  life-forces  together  and  resolutely  took  up 
the  burden  of  existence  once  more,  but  never  was  she  quite  the  same  as 
in  the  days  when  her  little  boy  was  on  her  knee.  When  she  sat  looking 
at  twilight's  hour  at  the  fading  glory  of  the  West,  the  children  would 
say,  "Materna,  what  are  you  thinking  of,  that  your  eyes  shine  so 
strangely  ?" 

And  she  would  say,  "Child,  I  am  thinking  of  your  little  brother, 
my  lost  little  boy  and  wondering  if  he  is  tonight  looking  at  Semitra's 
star.  See  how  beautiful  it  is  " 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

FAREWELL. 

Well,  that  is  all !  Nothing  was  the  same  as  before.  The  great 
storm  had  cut  the  land  into  great  hollows,  the  caravan  of  the  four- 
horned  ladies  had  carried  away  many  of  the  strongest  workers  who  had 
been  eager  to  go  forth  to  seek  their  fortunes  in  the  great  track  to  the 
WEST,  so  it  was  a  poor  set  that  was  left  behind.  But  their  going  forth 
had  done  them  very  little  good.  The  cloudbursts  had  destroyed  many 
in  the  caravan.  Only  one  man  had  escaped  to  go  with  the  Jalassas, 
and  of  course  the  dear  old  ancient  was  still  being  carried  along  like 
a  stone  effigy.  But  it  was  well  known  to  all  that  when  she  had  been 
brought  out  in  the  light  of  day,  she  showed  traces  of  ancestry  from  the 
Blacks  and  Yellows,  so  that  they  all  were  a  poor  mixed  breed,  neither 
fish,  flesh  nor  fowl,  nor  as  good  as  the  ones  from  whom  they  sprang. 
And  the  celebrated  relative  on  the  great-grandmother's  side  they  were 
seeking  for  turned  out  to  be,  not  a  general  as  they  pretended,  but  a  poor 
runaway  slave  that  a  certain  general  had  taken  pity  on,  and  had  helped 
to  escape  from  his  pursuers  only  to  be  basely  betrayed  by  this  ungrateful 
wretch  in  return  for  his  kindness.  They  all  were  treacherous  as  if 
from  a  nest  of  vipers.  There  was  no  integrity  in  them. 

They  never  thought  on  the  word  "HONOR." 

The  great  and  wonderful  thing  about  the  "Bright  Ones"  and  the 
pure  Ar-Yans  was  this  ;  the  power  they  naturally  had  for  organization 
and  working  together  as  one  force,  "a//  for  one  and  one  for  all."  But 
as  soon  as  any  of  these  mixed  with  Blacks  or  Browns  or  Yellows,  the 
next  generation  had  hatred  in  their  hearts  for  the  WHITES.  So  it 
was  a  bad  affair  when  some  of  the  Ar-Yans  had  chosen  mates  from 
among  the  witches'  daughters,  and  had  introduced  Jalassas  to  ruin 
everything  that  was  possible,  for  no  longer  had  they  the  power  of 
organization,  and  building  up — all  they  wanted  to  do  was  to  pull  down 
and  destroy. 

And  the  caravan  of  the  four-horned  ladies,  always  four-horned, 
had  had  its  way.  It  had  poisoned  the  children  of  the  king-and-the-queen, 
with  the  enchanted  pomegranate-seeds  and  they  now  were  no  longer 
happy,  save  Sax  who  had  had  none,  for  he  alone  had  escaped  to  keep 
his  powers  in  reserve. 

Una  Materna  had  lost  interest  in  everything.  Whether  the  flax 
were  planted  or  not,  whether  the  leaven  were  fresh  or  not  became  a 
matter  of  total  indifference  to  her.  Even  the  poor  young  giant  she 
seemed  to  have  forgotten  although  he  had  always  been  her  especial  care, 
and  how  ragged  he  was  getting  and  how  badly  treated  without  that 
tender  supervision  of  hers.  -He  did  not  get  enough  to  eat  half  the 
time,  and  it  made  him  cross  and  complaining,  instead  of  being  lively 
and  good-natured  as  all  true  giants  should  be. 

At  last  Una  Materna  had  the  warriors  build  her  a  tower  on  a  hill 
where  she  could  watch  the  SUNSET  each  evening  and  Semitra's  star. 
And  the  warriors  knew  then  they  would  never  go  on  that  journey  they 
had  dreamed  of  all  their  lives,  to  seek  that  glorious  land,  but  that  they 


FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN  71 

would  have  to  leave  it  for  Sax  to  do  for  them  after  he  had  become  a 
"Teat  chief  with  a  band  of  new  warriors  of  his  own.  They  were  getting 
grizzled  by  now.  They  were  too  old  to  start  upon  that  great  track  to 
the  West.  So  they  took  it  out  in  talking  about  it,  and  urging  the 
children  of  Una  Materna  to  seek  for  it  in  their  own  days  stretching  out 
before  them  so  gloriously. 

Here  in  this  tower  Avenant  used  to  sit  with  Una,  holding  her  hand 
and  trying  to  console  her  for  her  great  loss,  for  he  knew  her  heart 
was  broken. 

Poor  Avenant !  he  had  always  been  tall  and  well  built,  but  now  his 
shoulders  stooped  a  little  and  his  figure  was  thin,  for  his  heart  was 
broken,  too,  over  that  loss  of  theirs,  but  his  way  was  different  from 
hers  and  he  never  spoke  of  it.  The  crops  were  very  poor,  nothing 
seemed  right.  The  sun  beat  down  mercilessly  and  burned  everything 
up,  and  no  clouds  appeared  in  the  skies  to  bring  the  welcome  rain  with 
its  life-giving  quality. 

The  star  was  bright  in  the  WEST  when  Una  Materna  touched  the 
king's  hand  lightly. 

"Paterno,"  she  said,  "teach  the  children  to  be  kind  to  each  other 
for  little  Semitra's  sake." 

"Yes,  Materna,"  said  he,  knowing  the  great  moment  of  departure 
had  arrived,  "and  what  word  of  comfort  do  you  leave  to  me,  now  that 
you  are  going  on  your  journey?" 

"Come,  close,"  she  murmured,  a  brilliant  light  shining  in  her  eyes, 
"I  will  give  you  Semitra's  word  for  the  great  Sky-Father." 

So  he  placed  his  ear  near  to  her  lips  and  she  whispered  the  Sacred 
Name. 

Thus  she  passed.  And  all  her  people  wept  for  her  and  told 
always  the  story  to  their  children's  children.  And  as  each  who  wandered 
by  that  hill  beheld  that  tower  where  once  she  had  sat  gazing  at  the 
WEST  and  the  star,  they  reverently  placed  a  stone  until  the  tower 
disappeared  and  it  was  a  great  mound  up-builded  by  the  hands  of  those 
who  loved  her. 

One  by  one  then  died  the  warriors  and  they  were  buried  there 
to  protect  forever  their  beloved  Una  Materna  in  death  as  they  had  in 
life. 

And  that  was  the  story  of  the  old  land  of  Ar-Ya  whence  sprang 
the  Indo-European  tribes  now  peopling  the  earth  from  ocean  to  ocean. 

But  how  could  we  have  known  all  this  if  it  had  not  been  for  the 
grandmothers  sitting  in  the  winter  by  the  fires  telling  the  children  the 
marvelous  fairy  stories  during  the  long  nights,  so  that  we  all  have 
heard  about  "The  Sleeping  Beauty,"  "The  Fair  One  with  Golden  Locks'" 
and  that  most  sorrowful  one  about  "The  Lost  Babes  in  the  Wood?" 

In  this  way  wherever  the  WHITE  people  go,  they  carry  these 
tales  with  them,  and  the  words  common  to  that  early  time  are  preserved, 
so  that  we  know  we  all  belong  to  one  great  primal  family.  Of  course 
it  was  only  natural  that  the  stories  should  get  changed  round  somewhat 
during  the  four  thousand  years  that  have  elapsed.  So  that  today  they 
think  that  Avenant  and  the  king  were  two  different  men  instead  of 
being  one  and  the  same,  from  the  way  the  queen  herself  looked  at  the 
matter,  for  the  last  part  of  the  tale  of  "The  Fair  One  with  Golden 


72  FAIRY  TALE  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN 

Locks"  got  lost  along  the  route  and  was  put  into  a  dozen  other  myth- 
tales. 

l>ut  that  ancient  knitter,  Resonia,  the  Wise  Woman  of  the  Ages,  still 
sits  plying  those  wonderful  needles  of  hers,  and  in  her  mysterious  web 
we  may  trace  the  histories  of  the  children  of  Una  Materna  to  the  very 
minute  of  today.  For  she  has  a  deep  crimson  thread  woven  into  the 
mesh  to  represent  Ind,  a  blue  one  for  Gracia,  a  green  one  for  Roma, 
and  a  bright  yellow  one  for  Sax,  while  under  the  pattern  runs  a  half- 
concealed  yet  shining-through  filament  of  silver,  in  a  six-pointed  design 
to  stand  for  him  who  was  abandoned  in  the  forest.  We  may  follow 
their  footsteps  and  see  them  even  today  in  their  various  lands  or  where 
once  they  held  their  kingdoms,  for  nearly  all  have  merged  into  a 
common  European-American  stock  in  the  new  world. 

But  far  away  in  the  North,  the  South,  the  East,  and  yea,  even 
in  the  West,  following  his  star,  without  a  home  or  a  country,  carrying 
his  unseen  empire  with  him,  wanders  still,  poor  little  Semitra,  the  lost 
boy  of  the  ages. 


AFTER-WORD. 

So  now  we  know  the  story,  and  how  far  we  came  in  order  to 
gather  together  here  on  this  last  edge  of  this  last  continent.  And  that 
it  was  the  faithfulness  of  Una  Materna  to  her  prince  Ar-Ya,  even 
before  she  saw  him,  and  his  faithfulness  to  her,  and  the  same  splendid 
quality  in  our  mothers  and  fathers  for  ages  back,  that  has  kept  us  a 
WHITE  RACE. 

And  we  must  still  continue  the  same  till  the  end  of  the  world. 


The    End. 


AN    INITIAL    FINE 

.  BE  ASSESSED    '° 
BOOK  ON  THE 


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